Indo-U.S. K T I Rollout
November 29, 2001, New Delhi

Welcome Address by Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman, Indo-U.S. Joint Business Council

Ambassador Frank G Wisner, Chairman,U.S.-India Business Council,
Mr. Dean R. O’Hare, Chairman & CEO, The Chubb Corporation,
Mr. Albert A. Thibault, Deputy Chief of Mission, American Embassy,
Mr. Chirayu R. Amin, President, FICCI
Mr. Rajendra S. Lodha, President-Elect, FICCI,
Mr. R. Veeramani, President, I A C C
Dr. Amit Mitra, Secretary-General, FICCI,
Chairmen of the Working Groups of KTI, and
Distinguished Guests and Friends

I would like to join President Amin in extending a warm welcome to all of you to this ‘release event’ of the Knowledge Trade Initiative (KTI) Report, organised jointly by FICCI and USIBC. My special thanks to the eminent delegates from the United States who have made the effort to join us at this Conference.
Today is a big day for us. It has been a remarkable effort by FICCI and USIBC towards opening up new frontiers in knowledge industries. The release of this report comes at a significant juncture. Both India and the US are parties to the consensus reached at the WTO Ministeral Conference held in Doha and have agreed to work together towards creating a conducive global trading framework. It is against this backdrop that KTI 2001 is being launched.

Ladies and Gentlemen, knowledge is the key not only for the new economy but the old economy as well. During the 90s, India made big strides towards becoming a global leader in the IT sector. India’s vision in IT was further strengthened by the Indian diaspora particularly in the United States. While we recognized India’s progress in the IT sector, it was important to dwell upon what could be done to make this progress sustainable. Therefore, it was important to identify the bottlenecks and also to formulate future strategies towards development of the IT and other related sectors. Thus was launched the Knowledge Trade Initiative. The concept of knowledge trade relates to exchange and transfer of knowledge across borders. This could happen in various ways through movement of people, scientific, professional and academic exchange, joint ventures etc. While the range of industries related to knowledge trade largely deals with information-based products and services such as software and IT solutions, medical transcription, call centres etc., the benefits will not be limited to them alone but will be felt by a large number of other industries also such as biotechnology and entertainment. Also this will have its impact on the traditional sectors of the economy or the old economy as I had mentioned before.

This was the spirit and the understanding that prompted both FICCI and USIBC to sign a Protocol on “The Knowledge Trade Initiative” during the visit of President Clinton. Various focus sectors were identified namely E-Commerce Regulation and Taxation, Trade in Services and Market Access, Intellectual Property Rights, Human Capital Development, Financial Sector Reform, Digital Opportunities, Information Infrastructure, Biotechnology and E-Entertainment. Working groups on each of these were formed consisting of eminent persons in the field from both the countries. This was followed by extensive consultations, deliberations and exchange of ideas on wide range of issues related to the focus sectors. These were laid down in the sectoral reports that were prepared between the two countries. These reports form the heart and soul of the KTI. The reports have carried out in-depth painstaking analysis on the current progress in the particular sector, brought out issues that need to be addressed towards removing impediments which is slowing development in that sector and identified possible areas of collaboration. The crux of the report lies in form of recommendations for realizing the benefits to both the countries and to the world of expanded trade in the whole range of knowledge-based industries. These issues some way or the other relate to the transfer of knowledge be it through ideas, information or people. The reports make it evident that a lot needs to be done to meet the challenge of expanding the knowledge trade.

The presentations to follow will highlight the various knowledge based sectors and the related issues, so I will not dwell on them.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted that FICCI and USIBC have come together to become partners in organizing this Conference and want to congratulate both the organisations for the endeavour. This KTI report, I hope, will be the beginning of a more proactive and expansive Indo-US cooperation in this new knowledge driven global economy. I am confident that this Conference will further facilitate in strengthening the bond not only between the two organisations, FICCI and USIBC, but also deepen the economic and political relationship between the two countries.

Thank you.