The Mamata Banerjee government will have to create an “enabling environment” to draw American investment, a senior official in the US government said on Friday.
Robert O. Blake, Jr., the assistant secretary of the state bureau of south and central Asian affairs, was asked at a CII meeting in the city whether America was interested in investing in Bengal.
“It depends on the enabling environment the new government puts together. They will have to compete not only with other states in India but also other countries to attract investment,” the official said.
Blake said the same to chief minister Mamata Banerjee during a “courtesy call” at Writers’ Buildings in the afternoon. The official said after the meeting that he had congratulated the chief minister and discussed educational tie-ups and the law and order situation with her.
“Law and order is important for providing a conducive climate for investment. The chief minister assured us that things were improving, including the Maoist situation,” said Blake.
Before meeting Banerjee, Blake and US consul-general Beth Payne called on finance minister Amit Mitra.
Asked about America’s areas of interest in Bengal, Blake cited mining, tourism, agriculture, energy, infrastructure and education.
Blake also touched on educational partnerships at the CII session on “West Bengal and Beyond: US India Business Links and Prospects for the Future”.
According to him, for educational partnerships to take off institutes in Bengal will have to draw the attention of American universities and colleges. “American businesses see India as a vibrant laboratory for research and innovation that will produce tomorrow’s goods and services…. Calcutta’s position as a gateway to Asia will help disseminate those breakthroughs to Bangladesh and Southeast Asia,” Blake said at the CII event.
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