Consul General’s visit to Detroit on 19-20 August 2021
Consul General Amit Kumar visited Detroit on 19-20 August and met several important interlocutors.
He held interactions with the Indian American community members at the events organised by The Indo-American Chamber of Commerce and India league of America respectively. He briefed them on the India-US partnership, activities of the Consulate, diaspora engagement, etc. and addressed their queries on various issues. CG also met representatives of Miindia.
Consul General also met Mr. Peter Bhatia, Deputy Editor of Detroit Free Press, interacted with the members of American Society of Engineers of Indian origin, met Ms. Katherine Kasdorf, Associate Curator at the Detroit Institute of Art responsible for the impressive Indian Art collection, and met Mr. Ravi Pendse, Vice President at the University of Michigan to discuss higher education cooperation.
On the economic and commercial side, CG Kumar had fruitful discussions with the Mayor of Detroit, Mike Duggan, Ms Lindsay Kirchinger, Chief of Protocol of Michigan Economic Development Corporation and met Chief Operating Officer Mr. Pawan Mazumdar at the Automation Alley.
Mayor Duggan appreciated the contribution of the vibrant Indian community in Detroit and offered support to initiatives to enhance engagement with Indian companies and businesses. Discussions with MEDC covered expansion of trade and investment links with focus on sectors such as advanced manufacturing, electric vehicles, defence and aerospace industry, etc.
Automation Alley is a World Economic Forum Advanced Manufacturing Hub and non-profit Industry 4.0 knowledge centre in Michigan. Discussions covered exploring greater institutional cooperation on Industry 4.0 & emerging technologies for small and medium sized enterprises and leveraging them for advancing development, prosperity & equity. Automation Alley has taken many delegations to India in the past including one virtual one in April 2021 and plans are afoot to take another delegation to India next year.
Michigan is an important partner State in the US Midwest region that the Indian Consulate covers. It has bilateral trade with India of over US$ 2.5 billion annually. The visit of Consul General to Detroit was part of the Consulate’s regular engagement with different set of stakeholders in the region to advance and deepen India-US partnership.
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Chicago, 21 August 2021
