Secretarial Business Development Mission to India

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

Secretarial Business Development Mission to India

AGENCY: International Trade Administration, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice serves to inform the public of a Secretarial

Business Development Mission to India, December 6-13, 1997, and the

opportunity to apply for participation in the mission; sets forth

objectives, procedures, and participation criteria for the mission; and

requests applications.

DATES: Applications should be submitted to Cheryl Bruner by November

14, 1997, in order to ensure sufficient time to obtain in-country

appointments for applicants selected to participate in the mission.

Applications received after that date will be considered only if space

and scheduling constraints permit. The mission is scheduled for: New

Delhi, December 6-9; Calcutta, December 10, Chennai, December- 11; and

Mumbai, December 12-13, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Request for and submission of applications--Applications are

available from: Cheryl Bruner, Director of the Office of Business

Liaison or Jennifer Johnson at (202) 482-1360 or via facsimile at (202)

482-4054. Numbers listed in this notice are not toll-free. An original

and two copies of the required application materials should be sent to

the Project Officer noted above. Applications sent by facsimile must be

immediately followed by submission of the original application to Ms.

Bruner at the following address: Office of Business Liaison, Room 5062,

U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th & Constitution, Ave., N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20230.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cheryl Bruner or Jennifer Johnson at

202 482-1360. Information is also available via the International Trade

Administration's (ITA) Internet home page at ``http://www.ita.doc.gov/

uscs/doctm''.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Trade Mission Description

Secretary of Commerce William M. Daley, will lead a business

development trade mission to India, one of Asia's most significant

emerging markets, to promote expanded trade opportunities, advocate

U.S. business interests, advance significant commercial policy

objectives, and support the efforts of the U.S.-India Commercial

Alliance (USICA) and the U.S.-India Business Council. The Secretary's

mission will include U.S. companies whose interests range from

assessing the opportunities in the Indian market to expanding existing

business relationships. With stops in New Delhi, Calcutta, Chennai, and

Mumbai, the Secretary's mission will meet with government and business

leaders in the dynamic commercial centers of four distinctly different

regions of this large market.

The itinerary of the India Mission will be as follows:

December 5 (Fri.) Leave United States

December 6 (Sat.) Arrive New Delhi

December 7 (Sun.) New Delhi

December 8 (Mon.) New Delhi

December 9 (Tues) New Delhi

December 10 (Wed) New Delhi depart for Calcutta/Arrive Calcutta

December 11 (Thurs.) Depart Calcutta, Arrive Chennai

December 12 (Fri) Depart Chennai, Arrive Mumbai

December 13 (Sat) Depart Mumbai, return to USA

December 14 (Sun) Arrive USA

The goals for the Mission are:

Reaffirm the U.S. Government's commitment and support for

India's program of economic reform and heighten U.S. private sector

participation in India's economic growth. Emphasize how India and the

U.S. can benefit from continued liberalization and privatization in

India, and convey in public and private sector fora during the

mission's stay in the country the U.S. Government's interest in seeing

that the reforms undertaken by the Indian Government proceed.

Seek resolution of outstanding bilateral commercial issues

and advocate U.S. interests regarding specific problems and

opportunities. Key areas of focus: (1) Intellectual property rights;

(2) banking and other financial services; (3) economic reforms; (4)

power generation; and (5) broadcasting.

A full description of the mission is set forth in the Mission

Statement, which is available from Cheryl Bruner, Director of the

Office of Business Liaison, at the above address or at website.

[[Page 55592]]

Trade Mission Participation Criteria

The recruitment and selection of private sector participants in

this mission will be conducted according to the Statement of Policy

Governing Department of Commerce Overseas Trade Missions announced by

Secretary Daley on March 3, l997. For the India business development

mission, individuals must be at a level of executive seniority

appropriate to the goals of the mission. Company participation will be

determined on the basis of:

Consistency of the company's goals with the scope and

desired outcome of the mission as described herein;

Relevance of a company's business line to the plan for the

mission;

Past, present and prospective business activity in India;

and

Diversity of company size, type, location, demographics

and traditional under-representation in business.

An applicant's partisan political activities (including political

contributions) are irrelevant to the selection process. An interested

party must fill out an application to be considered for participation

in the mission.

Endorsements/Referrals

Third parties may nominate or endorse potential applicants, but

companies that are nominated or endorsed must themselves submit an

application to be eligible for consideration. Referrals from political

organizations will not be considered.

Costs

The fees to participant in the mission have not yet been

determined, and will be based on the number of participants. The fees

will not cover travel or lodging expenses.

Authority: 15 U.S.C. 1512.

Robert Marro,

Regional Director, Office of Africa, Near East and South Asia,

International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.

[FR Doc. 97-28305 Filed 10-24-97; 8:45 am]

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