Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- Utah lawmakers and business leaders see India as an emerging market.
- Plans are underway for Indian delegations to visit Utah next year.
- Utah aims to attract foreign investment to boost local economic growth.
NEW DELHI — In the waning days of their trade mission to India earlier this month, a group of lawmakers and business leaders from Utah visited the Taj Mahal in Agra, one of the great wonders of the world.
Days later, the 17th-century marvel was visited by Donald Trump Jr., son of President Donald Trump, accompanied by 126 guests from 40 countries.
The U.S. president has indicated he also plans to visit India as trade negotiations continue.
All of these visits show the economic and strategic importance of this South Asian country, something the Utahns on the trade mission said they awakened to as they traveled to multiple cities on their two-week tour.
During his final hours in India, state Senate President Stuart Adams, who led the delegation, spoke to the Deseret News about the beauty of the Taj Mahal. "It's the detail. It's not painted — it's all hand-carved stone. ... I can't imagine doing it today with all the tools we have, let alone doing it without those types of tools."
Adams said the Taj Mahal was representative to him of the talent he found in India, one of the largest and fastest growing countries in the world.
What Utah leaders see in India
"The quicker you can try to come into an emerging market, the better off you are. And India is emerging," Adams said in mid-November in a hotel lobby in Bangalore. At the same time, this country already has a highly educated and capable workforce, the state senate president noted.
After a multiweek trade mission, Adams said Utah hasn't "even polished the surface, let alone scratched" it on what the future of this relationship could look like.
Adams said that plans are already in the works to bring delegations from India to Utah next year.
Dominic Thomas Karipaparambil, of Bharat Valley, a startup incubator, chimed in during the interview, saying he hopes to organize two separate trips — one with state governments and a second with businesses that are looking to invest in Utah to visit the state's universities and explore its world-class health care research and development, Karipaparambil said.
"We are also looking at companies that are already importing minerals from other parts of the world," he said. "We want to bring them to Utah to show them what we have."
Meanwhile, another Utah delegation, possibly accompanied by Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, could make its way to India next year.
The head of Lifetime Products, a Utah company that manufactures folding tables and chairs made of plastic out of China, said his company had explored India as a possible option to set up its factory a decade ago. But they decided not to invest, "and I don't know why," said BJ Haacke, the CEO and president of Lifetime.
"It was a mistake. We should have been selling here, manufacturing here and more," he said during a Corporate Connect event in Bangalore. "We've loved it."
"I noticed almost all the tables in India are made of wood," he added, speaking into the mic in front of a room full of 50 or so entrepreneurs. "They used to be made of wood in Utah, too, until we started making them. We're hoping to change that here."
Adams said that's the exact sentiment he felt about other Utah businesses missing an opportunity to invest in India early on. He was sitting next to Jonathan Freedman, the president and CEO of the World Trade Center Utah, who also chimed in.
"Here in India, it's an amazing market for Utahns to export to and grow their sales here in India, the most populous nation in the world," said Freedman. He worked on sourcing and importing products from India for a decade and a half. "I've seen a great opportunity here," Freedman said. "It's a fantastic alternative to working in China. ... As we diversify, we strengthen our supply chains and our resilience."
India is the ninth largest U.S. trading partner as well as the world's largest democracy and American ally, making it "a natural place to do business," he added.
Despite the 50% tariffs levied on this South Asian country, India and the U.S. will double bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030, thanks to a deal Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed in February this year.
Utah can benefit from this by attracting "that foreign investment to fuel our growth at home," said Freedman.
"This is going to provide for high-paying, sustainable jobs," he added.
