Networking with India could benefit Maine

India is quietly but swiftly developing as a critically important player on the world stage. Like China, India is home to a quarter of the world’s population. But there are important differences. India is the world’s largest functioning democracy. Its population is highly literate; English is spoken almost universally, and India has a rapidly expanding middle class which already is the size of the entire population of the United States. And India has a well-established legal system. Small wonder that India is poised to replace the United States as the world’s second strongest magnet for foreign direct investment, and that we are likely to see India soon become a member of the United Nations Security Council.

Maine has every reason to expand its commercial, technological and cultural ties to India. There are affinities in the fields of computer technology, biotechnology and elsewhere. Dozens of graduates of Maine colleges and universities have returned to India where they may be able to facilitate strengthened ties between Maine and India. And India should not be overlooked as a source of foreign direct investment in Maine.

To be effective in interaction with India one needs a special degree of understanding of the culture and business practices. Success for Maine-based organizations in the pursuit of productive relationships with Indian counterparts will be enhanced by a pooling of the knowledge, experience and networks of Maine’s organizations and individuals already connected to India.

To foster increased awareness in Maine of India as a potential international partner, Maine Maritime Academy’s Loeb-Sullivan School of International Business and Logistics will host a one day Maine-India Networking Conference on May 26 in Castine. Given the knowledge and experience of participants and presenters already committed to the conference, it is not far-fetched to characterize the event as a unique opportunity for Maine individuals and organizations of all sorts to investigate opportunities to interact with the “other” emerging superpower, one with whom productive interaction may be easier in many ways than with China.

Participants in the Castine conference will include Maine native Ron Somers, president of the U.S.-India Business Council in Washington, D.C.; a representative of the Indian Consulate General in New York; director of research at NIIT, India’s leading educational technology institution; representatives of Maine businesses engaged successfully with India; a distinguished Indian graduate of the University of Maine; and the president of the Indian-American Chamber of Commerce in New York.

For information on the May 26 Maine-India Networking Conference, contact Dr. Shashi Kumar via e-mail to skumar@mma.edu or by phone at 326-2454.

Robert Sargent is a former U.S. diplomat and co-founder of the Maine International Networking Service.