On 29th January, 2016 in New Delhi, AmCham met with Mr. Fred Hochberg, Chairman and President of the Export Import Bank of the U.S. During this visit, Chairman Hochberg met with industry leaders to discuss how Ex-Im Bank, as the official export credit agency of the United States, could advance U.S.-India cooperation on a range of issues from nuclear and renewable power, to aviation and other infrastructure priorities, through Ex-Im financing.

Mr. Pratyush Kumar, President, Boeing India, gave introductory remarks and mentioned the overwhelming opportunity in India for infrastructure growth. He also mentioned that India has the fasting growing civil aviation market in the world.

Chairman Hochberg explained that Ex-Im Bank has been officially re-chartered until 2019. This was his first international trip since the new charter and they remain increasingly enthusiastic towards India. Ex-Im has provided more loans to India under the Obama administration than the Bush and Clinton administration combined. Ex-Im’s prime focus is to support jobs in the U.S. and has been primarily focused on the renewable power sector. When thinking in terms of how Ex-Im Bank can support you, think about the financing of goods or services that supports U.S. jobs.

Other members of the delegation and USG present included:

Raymond J. Ellis, VP of Global Business Development, Ex-Im Bank
Matthew Bevens, Deputy Chief of Staff, Ex-Im Bank
Ashley Lewis, Press Secretary, Ex-Im Bank
George Sibley, Minister Counselor for Economic Affairs, Environment, Science and Technology, U.S. Embassy
Dillon Banerjee, Counselor for Commercial Affairs, U.S. Embassy
Zeba Reyazuddin, Economic Growth Unit Chief, U.S. Embassy
Ray Sudweeks, Energy Unit Chief, U.S. Embassy
Chad Norberg, Trade and Technology Unit Chief, U.S. Embassy
Wes Mathews, Economic Officer, U.S. Embassy

Highlights of the discussion included:

India as a significant market for solar power and how Ex-Im has contributed to it
Most action in the energy realm will occur at the state level
Massive energy opportunities in the northeastern states
Ex-Im emphasized that if state governments have an international rating then they can look at getting involved with them
An explanation of the smart city initiative and progress of various projects

The companies present were 3M, Boeing, Caterpillar, Edgewood Networks, First Solar, IBM, KPMG, Lanza Tech and UTC.