U.S.-India Business Council Hails Arrival of Indian Mangoes

Supports Successful Doha Conclusion and Deeper U.S.-India Trade

    WASHINGTON, May 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- At a "Mango Celebration"
 today hosted at the Washington-headquartered U.S.-India Business Council
 (USIBC), just opposite the White House, U.S. Trade Representative Susan
 Schwab and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns each received from
 Indian Ambassador Ronen Sen the first gift baskets of ripe Indian mangoes
 seen in the U.S. Capital in 18 years.
     Smiles and joyous applause erupted at the USIBC mango tasting event as
 an Indian chef, Mr. Ramesh, from the nearby-famous Bombay Club of
 Washington, DC cut into the first alphonso mango. Indian Ambassador Ronen
 Sen shared cubes of the golden fruit with the two Bush Administration
 Cabinet officials credited for enabling access of Indian mangoes to the
 U.S. market.
     India's Commerce Minister, Kamal Nath, remarked upon the first
 consignment leaving India last Friday: "America for too long has denied
 itself the taste of delicious Indian mangoes." For Indian mango growers,
 the American market holds significant promise.
     India is the world's largest producer of mangoes -- at 12 million
 metric tons harvested each year -- but it accounts for less than 1% of the
 global mango trade. America's taste for mangoes is growing -- with U.S.
 demand 99% dependent on imports -- mostly from Mexico and South America --
 at 250,000 metric tons annually, valued at $156 million. By contrast, in
 2005-06, India exported 58,000 metric tons of mangoes to neighbors in Asia
 and to Europe.
     This breakthrough of opening mango trade is highly emblematic of a push
 by both the U.S. and India to deepen two-way trade from $30 billion to $60
 billion over the next two years.
     "U.S. willingness to purchase Indian mangoes is another important step
 towards deeper engagement and more robust U.S.-India trade," said Ron
 Somers, President of the U.S.-India Business Council. "As our commercial
 and strategic partnership deepens, two-way trade will soon reach new
 levels, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs in India and thousands of
 jobs here at home," said Somers.
     "USIBC salutes India's farmers and the Indian agricultural community,
 and extends its heartfelt congratulations on this joyous occasion of the
 first mango consignment reaching Washington D.C.," Ron Somers said. "USIBC
 congratulates the Bush Administration for making this happen, and welcomes
 U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab's sincere efforts to successfully
 conclude Doha and deepen Indo-U.S. trade," Somers said.
     USIBC recently issued an RFP for its "Free Trade Initiative," calling
 for proposals to prepare a "roadmap" charting the course for enhanced trade
 and investment between the world's largest free-market democracies.
     USIBC celebrates its 32nd Anniversary in Washington this summer,
 holding its "Global India" Summit on June 27th, which will feature Boeing's
 Jim McNerney, Reliance's Mukesh Ambani, Secretary of State Condoleezza
 Rice, India's Union Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, U.S. Trade Representative
 Susan Schwab, and U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, among others.
     The U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) is comprised of the top 250
 companies investing in India, joined by India's global companies, whose
 purpose is to deepen commercial ties between the U.S. and India. For more
 information, please contact nmehra@usibc.com.
 
 

SOURCE U.S.-India Business Council