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8 Jun, 2013

U.S.-India Business Council Says U.S. Needs “Skilled Professionals”

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WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–6 June 2013 — The U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) today announced the establishment of the Coalition for Jobs & Growth to help ensure that American businesses of all types have access to the international expertise they need to continue to drive forward economic growth and job creation.

The Coalition’s members are drawn from the nearly 400 businesses, trade associations and public policy members of the USIBC, virtually all of whom directly benefit from access to the international knowledge economy and use the work of professionals from around the globe to enhance productivity in their corporate operations.

As the U.S. economy recovers, the U.S. is relying on high technology requiring skilled professionals to drive efficiencies and spur growth; until the U.S. can produce sufficient numbers of skilled professionals domestically, talent must be sourced from around the globe so U.S. firms can outpace global competition.

“USIBC supports the free movement of technical professionals. This freedom of movement is essential to U.S. job creation, and is at the heart of our future economic prosperity,” said USIBC President Ron Somers.

“USIBC endorses immigration reform, but the legislation as currently written restricts a company’s ability to source skilled talent, which hamstrings American competitiveness,” Somers added.

The USIBC-led Coalition for Jobs & Growth believes that an open American economy helps give the United States the influence it needs to ensure that other economies stay open as well. India’s vast market can only be encouraged to open to global trade, facilitating greater American exports and investment, setting the standard for the protection of intellectual property, if the American market maintains highest standards and remains reciprocally open.

USIBC, formed in 1975 at the request of the United States and Indian governments, is the largest bilateral business association in the United States, whose mandate is to advance two-way trade and deepen commercial ties.

Today, USIBC is comprised of nearly 400 of America’s top companies investing in India, joined by global Indian companies investing in the United States. U.S.-India two-way trade has recently crossed $100 billion in goods and services, supporting hundreds of thousands of American jobs. Indian companies have cumulatively invested more than $11 billion in the United States over the past decade. Ajay Banga, President and CEO of MasterCard, serves as USIBC’s Chairman.