A Summit for Success

 

Courtesy SelectUSA

 

Each year, thousands of people travel from around the world to an event in the United States to gain knowledge, forge relationships, and foster fresh opportunities for international business investment. And though the COVID-19 pandemic forced this annual event to happen virtually in 2021, Indian business leaders were still able to participate—and gain new perspectives from the experience.

The SelectUSA Investment Summit is often said to be the “highest-profile event in the United States dedicated to foreign direct investment,” and the gathering lives up to its description. The Investment Summit regularly attracts over 1,200 investors from a variety of global markets, economic leaders from every American state and territory, experts across a wide range of industries, exciting international tech start-ups and many more enthusiastic participants wanting to gain knowledge on anything U.S. investment-related.

The result? To date, the SelectUSA Investment Summit has assisted thousands of clients, including EDOs, domestic firms, and international companies, facilitating more than $59 billion in new U.S. investment projects, and supporting over 49,000 jobs across the United States and its territories.

Rajit Bhattacharya is the CEO of Data Sutram, a Kolkata-based firm that specializes in data analytics for manufacturing, retail and other business sectors. He learned about the Investment Summit from an industry organization and was excited to apply. “Start-ups across India were invited to apply to participate in the SelectUSA Summit,” he says. “I was very excited when Data Sutram was chosen.”

Even though Bhattacharya could not travel to the United States in person due to the pandemic, it didn’t prevent powerful connections from being made. “The summit hosted a virtual conference hall, which was a one-of-a-kind experience,” he says. “You can go onto your laptop, visit virtual booths and setups and talk to people. It was almost like being in an auditorium hall, with companies from different countries presenting their products.”

Networking was a key part of Bhattacharya’s positive experience at the Investment Summit. “I connected with really interesting people who have done really well,” he says, “including investors from the U.S. and Southeast Asia, who I had never known of. Learning about what’s happening in the world as far as investment, data and business was crucial.”

Bhattacharya found that the Investment Summit gave him precious insights into market conditions within the United States, a country in which his company is looking to expand. “I got an assessment of what different states and state governments in the U.S. are looking at in terms of investments,” he says. “That information gives Indian companies like mine an idea of what pockets to look at, what sectors we should go after, so we have tangible things to offer when going into the U.S. market.”

G.K. Raman serves as head of corporate affairs for Jubilant Pharmova, an innovative Uttar Pradesh-based pharmaceutical company selected to participate in the SelectUSA Investment Summit. Raman, like Bhattacharya, was excited to join the event. “We decided to participate in the summit because it brings the diversity of the United States together under one roof,” Raman says, “enabling any business to find the people, resources and market it needs to be successful.” He describes the experience as enriching and says that the Investment Summit fostered promising connections between businesses.

As a leader in the world of pharmaceuticals, Raman describes several key benefits from the Investment Summit that directly relate to his industry. He says topics of discussion included enhancements to pharmaceutical manufacturing platforms in the United States, as well as ways to manufacture critical vaccines and therapeutics more efficiently for the COVID-19 pandemic. Raman also says that the Investment Summit fostered greater support for the Global Innovation Fund, which helps developing countries deal with major challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since the SelectUSA Investment Summit, Raman says that he and his colleagues at Jubilant have gained knowledge and confidence about investments from the United States and have been actively exploring opportunities with American partners. Bhattacharya shares this sentiment. “When you are building new products from your native country, it’s very important to get a taste of what’s happening across the world as well,” he says. “Even though the Internet already connects us, the SelectUSA Summit’s platform is particularly effective at bringing the entire ecosystem together in a very good manner. It’s an opportunity to really understand who is doing what, and how they are thinking about scaling business up globally. It was a very interesting opportunity to learn.”

Raman enthusiastically recommends the SelectUSA Investment Summit to Indian entrepreneurs who want to explore growth opportunities within the United States. “SelectUSA provides in-market services and on-the-ground expertise for investment opportunities,” he says. “It discusses topics ranging from infrastructure to workforce development and features prominent industry experts and government officials in the summit. It is a great platform for networking and learning.”

The 2022 SelectUSA Investment Summit is scheduled to resume in person at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland from June 26-29, 2022. To learn more about the SelectUSA Investment Summit visit www.selectusasummit.us

Michael Gallant is the founder and chief executive officer of Gallant Music. He lives in New York City.

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