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The Indian Ocean Region
US views Tamil Nadu as 'gateway state' (IANS
Report) Chennai,
11 March 2007
Lt Gen
(retired) Dan Christman, senior vice president (international
affairs) in the US Chamber of Commerce leading a 38 member delegation to
Tamil Nadu: "Tamil Nadu is a gateway state for international
business as it connected both to the east and the west. US-India
defence relationship has been improving. US companies are getting
acquainted with India's rather intricate procurement arrangements and
educate their counterparts here about our (US) systems... about our new,
sophisticated US military equipment. This is an area of significant
commercial promise"
[see also
Bio Note on
Lt Gen (retired) Dan Christman]
 A team of American businessmen
that was in India to explore investment opportunities, particularly in the
defence, energy and agricultural sectors, has described Tamil Nadu as a "gateway
state".
Lt Gen (retired) Dan Christman, senior vice president (international affairs) in
the US Chamber of Commerce, was leading the 38-member delegation.
"Tamil Nadu is a gateway state" for international business as it connected both
to the east and the west, he said at a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)
initiative here to interact with government officials and business leaders from
southern India.
David Hopper, the US consul general in Chennai, said that by March 2007 "we
expect direct investment by US firms in India to exceed $1 billion".
Calling India's defence procurement arrangements "intricate", Hopper said the
US-India defence relationship has been improving.
"US companies are getting acquainted with India's rather intricate procurement
arrangements and educate their counterparts here about our (US) systems... about
our new, sophisticated US military equipment. This is an area of significant
commercial promise," he added.
Hopper also announced that US Energy Secretary Sam Bodman would be visiting
India in the next few months.
He also said: "Improving India's agricultural production and its agricultural
produce market is one of the most critical areas of focus in Indo-US
intellectual and technical collaboration."
Tamil Nadu Power Minister Arcot Veerasamy invited US companies to invest in the
power sector and told the American visitors that "atomic power companies in the
US" have also expressed "their intention to start power plants in Tamil Nadu".
He noted that Russian technology was already helping generate 6,000 MW of
electricity from the Koodankulam nuclear power facility in southern Tamil Nadu.
Tamil Nadu industry secretary Shaktikanta Das the state has emerged as the
leather, textiles and automobile hub, but it is also "emerging as an electronic
hub for hardware and has been slotted at the top by international players
conducting due diligence studies".
Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corp chairman S. Ramasundaram said that by
2015, 50 percent of all mobile handsets in the world would be made in the state.
Note
[Courtesy
US Chamber
of Commerce ]
Lt Gen (retired) Dan Christman is Senior Vice President for
International
Affairs at the United States Chamber of Commerce. Dan is responsible for
representing the Chamber before foreign business leaders and government
officials and for providing strategic leadership on international issues
affecting
the business community. He oversees a team of dozens of policy analysts
and
program coordinators who are committed to global business engagement.
Before joining the Chamber, Christman served for two years as the
president
and executive director of the
Kimsey Foundation, where he helped launch
a program on political reform in China in coordination with the
Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace.
Dan, a career military officer who retired from active duty in 2001, served
for five years as the Superintendent of the United States Military Academy
at West Point. He also served for two years as assistant to the Chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during which time he traveled with and advised
Secretary of State Warren Christopher.
He was centrally involved during
this period with negotiations between Israel and Syria as a member of the
Secretary's Middle East Peace Team. Further, Dan represented the United
States as a member of NATO’s Military Committee in Brussels, Belgium.
General Christman has written and lectured extensively on leadership and
national defense, including the ongoing war against international terrorism.
He also served as a military analyst for CNN International during Operation
Iraqi Freedom. He is a frequent contributor to CNN, and has also appeared
on ABC, Fox, MSNBC, CNBC, and C-SPAN, to discuss defense and national
security issues.
During the Gulf War in 1991, he headed a strategic planning
group that advised the Army’s chief of staff on war prosecution policies.
Graduating first in his class from West Point, Dan also received MPA and
MSE degrees in public affairs and civil engineering from Princeton University
and graduated with honors from the George Washington University Law
School. He is a decorated combat veteran of Southeast Asia, where he
commanded a company in the 101st Airborne Division in 1969. On four
occasions, General Christman has been awarded the Army and Defense
Distinguished Service Medal, which is the Defense Department’s highest
peacetime award.
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