Governor Martin O’Malley and First Lady Katie O’Malley today kicked off an historic trade mission to India, arriving earlier today in Hyderabad with a delegation of more than 100 Maryland business leaders, educators and elected officials – the largest-ever trade mission delegation from Maryland. Governor O’Malley and the delegation will spend two days in Hyderabad, then travel to Mumbai and New Delhi to boost two-way trade and investment and promote Maryland as an ideal location for Indian companies looking to establish U.S. operations, particularly in life sciences, technology and aerospace and defense. The six-day mission will wrap up with a visit to the Taj Mahal. Governor O’Malley is the first sitting Governor from Maryland to lead a trade mission to India.
“While Maryland and India have a long history of trade, this mission will help open new doors for investment, for both Maryland businesses looking to enter or expand in Indian markets, and for Indian companies looking to enter U.S. markets by locating in Maryland,” said Governor O’Malley. “We are pleased to promote our State as the gateway to doing business in the U.S. and to seek opportunities to partner in our innovation and technology sectors.”
As part of today’s events, Governor O’Malley joined Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy to discuss their intentions to sign the first Sister State agreement between Maryland and India. Andhra Pradesh is India’s fourth largest state and the country’s center for information technology, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. An agreement would strengthen India’s partnership with Maryland and commit the two regions to working together on matters of business and industry, culture and arts, and education and health.
The Governor also witnessed signings between four Maryland businesses and their Indian partners. ANGARAI, a Greenbelt-based management consulting firm specializing in project management, oversight and business transformation solutions and one of Prince George’s County’s fastest growing small businesses, signed an agreement with CI , a technology product development company based in Chennai, to pursue opportunities in mobile and web applications, potentially opening up an office in Maryland. The second signing was between Rockville-based Sheladia Associates, an engineering, architecture and development company and two Indian firms – M/S Sai Matarani Toll Ways Ltd. and Gayatri Projects Ltd. Sheladia will provide design and project management services valued at $3.7 million for upgrading the Panikoili – Rimouli Section of National Highway 215 to a 4 Lane facility in the State of Orissa. A third signing involved an MOU between Maryland-based DataNet Systems Corp. in and RT-MediBus Technologies and the Health Management and Research Institute in Hyderabad to create MediHelp, a 24-hour/seven day a week health care helpline that can help screen minor ailments and illnesses and reduce the overall cost of public healthcare. The call center would be located in Prince George’s County. In addition, Amarex, a Germantown-based clinical research organization, signed an agreement with Gaithersburg’s Shreis Scalene Sciences LLC
