NJ And India Strengthen Business Ties; New Commission Launches

NEWARK, NJ — New Jersey is trying to deepen its trade ties with yet another global partner, officials announced Tuesday.

Gov. Phil Murphy signed an executive order on Tuesday in Newark, which creates the New Jersey-India Commission. Read its full text here.

According to a statement from the governor’s office, the commission will be charged with “advancing bilateral trade and investment and encouraging economic development” between New Jersey and India, which is the most populous country in the world and has one of its fastest-growing economies.

The commission is expected to provide advice to the governor, as well as to the other New Jersey government agencies and departments.

India is New Jersey’s second-largest foreign direct investor, and the majority of New Jersey’s immigrant population hails from the nation, officials said.

There are about 400,000 Indian Americans living in New Jersey, officials said.

In September of 2019, Murphy and Choose New Jersey led an economic mission trip to India, fostering economic relations and securing more than 1,200 new jobs by expanding the presence of three Indian companies within New Jersey.

Over the past two decades, India has invested $2 billion dollars into the state, helping to create nearly 6,000 jobs in key sectors like life sciences and technology, officials said.

“Following my visit to India in 2019, we have been committed to strengthening our relationship, building on the overlapping economic strengths that New Jersey and India have long shared,” Murphy said.

“We take immense pride in the contributions of our vast Indian immigrant population and, through this commission, we can ensure that we seize a new century of opportunities to grow together and pioneer new possibilities,” he added.

Consul General of India Binaya Srikanta Pradhan said the partnership with New Jersey is unique in several ways.

“Gov. Murphy’s initiative to establish the New Jersey-India Commission would add strength to already existing high level of economic engagement in terms of over $10 billion trade with New Jersey or several two-way investments,” Pradhan said.

“This would also give a boost to the strong people-to-people connect that exists between India and New Jersey including in areas of education and knowledge partnership,” Pradhan added.

New Jersey has been building ties with other nations across the globe in the past year. Other partnerships that have recently been launched includes outreach to Israel, Ireland, Japan and South Korea.

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• See Related: NJ Gov. Will Visit East Asia To Talk Business On 'Trade Mission'
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COMMISSION MEMBERS

The New Jersey-India Commission will consist of no less than 35 and no more than 45 members, each appointed by the governor. The governor will select one chairperson from the appointees to lead the group.

Wesley Mathews will serve as the commission’s inaugural chair. Other members include: Dini Ajmani, Natasha Alagarasan, Sri Atluri, Snehal Batra, Coleen Burrus, Ravi Dattatreya, Kirti Desai, Parimal Garg, Vin Gopal, Balpreet Grewal-Virk, Kiran Handa Gaudisoso, Pavita Howe, Jaime Jacob, Monica Jain, Gurbir Johal, Suchitra Kamath, Krishna Kishore, Vidya Kishore, Kris Kolluri, Indu Lew, Jose Lozano, Wesley Matthews, Anjali Mehrota, Deelip Mhaske, Raj Mukherji, Suresh Muthuswami, Srinivas Pallia, Anand Paluri, Falguni Pandya, Carrie Parikh, Rajiv Parikh, Gurpreet Pasricha, Deepak Raj, Jatin Shah, Huzaifa Shakir, Sterley Stanley, Ragy Thomas, Steven Van Kuiken and Christina Zuk.

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