West Bengal on Thursday pitched for more employment generation in the state through US-India partnership.

Principal chief advisor to West Bengal chief minister Amit Mitra said that the need of the hour is creation of more employment through exports, strengthening of the MSME sector in the state and value-chain integration.

Speaking at a session of the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce virtually, Mitra said "During 2022-23, exports from West Bengal to the US increased 55 per cent over the previous period." Mitra, who also holds the rank of a state cabinet minister, said that exports from West Bengal to the US stood at approximately USD 13 to 15 billion.

"Nearly ten per cent of India's exports to the US originates from West Bengal," he said.

The major items of exports to the US from West Bengal are gems and jewellery, shrimp, human hair for wigs and industrial gloves among others, he stated.

Mitra said, "According to the RBI, West Bengal is the fourth largest economy in the country in terms of net value added (NVA)." He said more technological collaboration between the US and West Bengal is required for increased manufacturing activity in the state.

Citing an example, he said US technology is being used by two companies for production of coal bed methane (CBM) gas in West Bengal.

The West Bengal government will support the initiative for which collaborative effort is needed, he noted.

Mitra said in the last fiscal, the US has emerged as the largest trading partner of India with two-way trade volumes touching USD 130 billion with a trade surplus in favour of India.

According to Mitra, this shows that the US had given significant market access to India. "Merchandise exports from India to US has overtaken China", he said.

Mitra said, "This shows the nature of openness of the US-India relationship".

US Consul General in Kolkata Melinda Pavek said that both the two leaders (Joe Biden and Narendra Modi) affirmed the closeness of the relations between the two countries (US and India).

She said India conducts more military exercises with the US than any other country. "The objective of the US-India relationship is for a prosperous, peaceful and secure future", Pavek said.

She said US and India are working on critical and emerging technologies, adding that an open accessible eco-system is being worked upon in the areas of space, new-age telecom, artificial intelligence and semiconductors.

The US government is working hard on reducing bureaucratic and administrative hurdles for a frictionless relationship between the two countries, Pavek said.

The US has set a target for issuing one million visas to Indian citizens in 2023. "We are well on our way to reach that target and might also surpass that", she said.

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