Dear Delegates,

It is my great honor to welcome you on the World Trade Center LA’s inaugural trade mission of 2024 to India. We are traveling to New Delhi and Mumbai at the invitation of U.S. Ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti, whom as you know has a unique understanding of the significance of the partnership between India and Los Angeles.

With a steady GDP growth rate of over 8%, that relationship is of paramount importance as India cements its place amongst the world’s economic powerhouses. Indian enterprises support 1,143 jobs in Los Angeles County, paying $164m in wages to Angelenos.

More than 100,000 Indian Americans live in our metropolitan area, strengthening the rich multicultural fabric of our community. Now is the perfect time to engage with our Indian partners on the ground to nurture and expand our commercial, educational, and cultural bonds.

We will begin our journey on Monday in New Delhi, using the day to soak up the strategic, economic, and political landscape of India with key country briefings and discussions. This will give us the opportunity to hear from US-focused partners – including the US Embassy and Ambassador Garcetti himself – on where the strategic priorities lie for our national relationship and the role that Los Angeles plays within it.

On Tuesday we will travel across New Delhi – from Noida to Gurgaon – to see first-hand the depth of Indian innovation in both education and industry. On Wednesday, our final day in Delhi, we will explore the scale of sustainable infrastructure development in India, before signing off in the city with a reception hosted by our World Trade Center Noida colleagues.

Our sister city Mumbai is truly the ‘LA of India’ – entertainment, financial, and commercial capital of India. We will arrive on Thursday and dive straight into engagements that showcase the vibrant culture of innovation that exists in the city. We are visiting the city at the time of the Confederation of Indian Industry’s western annual conference, which we will take part in and use as the framework for our visit there.

Throughout the program, we will explore India’s partnership with Los Angeles through the lenses of technology, sustainability, education, and tourism, as well as how these relate to infrastructure development. This will be an impactful mission with lasting significance for the ongoing trade and investment relationship between India and Greater Los Angeles. Again, welcome and I look forward to the wide ranging partnerships that will be forged and strengthened over the course of the week.

Stephen Cheung