With a new pro-business prime minister in India, Radhika Reddy said it's a great time to try to woo businesses to expand to Cleveland, and for Cleveland businesses to export products to India. Team NEO, an economic development group, is participating in the trade mission for the first time from Oct. 9-19, in efforts to attract Indian investment for the 18-county region.
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cleveland entrepreneur Radhika Reddy is leading a trade mission to India in October, and Wednesday she's inviting the public to hear the Consul General of India talk about doing business in the country.
With a new pro-business prime minister in India, Reddy said it's a great time to try to woo businesses to expand to Cleveland, and for Cleveland businesses to export products to India. Team NEO, a local economic development group, is participating in the trade mission for the first time Oct. 9-19, in efforts to attract Indian investment for the 18-county region.
"Narendra Modi, who won the national elections with a landslide victory in 2014, has undertaken radical economic reform to liberalize, modernize and grow the Indian economy, reduce bureaucracy, and increase opportunities for doing business with India," said Reddy, founding partner of Ariel Ventures and owner of Ariel International Center.
Select USA, the U.S. federal investment promotion entity, which is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, ranks India as the fourth fastest-growing source of Foreign Direct Investment in the United States. In Northeast Ohio, there are nine companies from India, that employ close to 2,000 people here.
"Our mission is to increase these numbers and bring high-wage jobs, new companies and new technologies to our region," said Bernardine van Kessel, director of international business attraction at Team NEO.
"Team NEO receives an increasing number of inquiries from Indian companies and we are excited to broaden our attraction scope towards this country."
Kessel regularly travels to China and Japan, and has strong relationships with the Select USA officials in those countries.
"We are looking to develop similar relationships with Select USA officials in India who are setting up meetings with Indian companies on Team NEO's behalf, " she said.
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Honorable Dnyaneshwar M. Mulaya, Consul General of India, N. Y., expected to talk about "Doing Business with India." The Wednesday event will be held from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Ariel International Center.From major corporations such as Eaton Corp. to family-owned manufacturers like Jergens Inc., Ohio companies have been finding business opportunities in India for many years. Reddy wants more of them to consider the possibilities.
In preparation for the trade mission to India and to help Ohio companies learn about the latest opportunities for doing business with India, Reddy has invited Honorable Dnyaneshwar M. Mulay, Consul General of India, New York, to talk about "Doing Business with India." The event will be from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Ariel International Center. It's free and open to the public.
Reddy is passionate about economic development through globalization for good reason. She moved to Cleveland from Hyderabad, India, 25 years ago as a Rotary International exchange student, with just $20 in her pocket. Since then, she has enjoyed a career that has included manufacturing, economic development, real estate, and international business and finance.
Four years ago, she took another big risk and converted an abandoned historic 68,000-square-foot building, overlooking Lake Erie on E. 40th Street and turned it in to a one-stop center for international business development and international events.
"It's a dream come true," she said.