South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley meets Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal
Punjab and South Carolina may soon be exchanging their best practices, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said today after meeting South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley. South Carolina, Ms Haley reportedly told him, would like to support Punjab in establishing aerospace, pharma, tourism, and agro-processing industries.
Haley, whose family is from Punjab, is visiting the state after long - "The last time I came here was when I was two years old", she said. But in September, she had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to New York and they had discussed areas of possible cooperation and investment in India.
The Deputy Chief Minister highlighted the steps taken to make Punjab one of the easiest states to do business with. "We have changed laws to ensure investors get quick clearances. We have also created a department of administrative reforms to change outdated laws," he said.
Some of the US investors who had met the Prime Minister had pointed out that red tape was one of the biggest impediments in doing business with India.
Haley, whose father's family used to live in Amritsar's suburb Verka before migrating to the United States in the 1960s, will go to Amritsar on Friday. The day after, she will offer prayers at the Golden Temple. She will visit the Jallianwala Bagh and meet the students at the Guru Nanak Dev University.
Ms Haley, 42, who was elected in November 2010, is currently the youngest Governor in the US. She is one of two sitting Indian-American Governors - the other is Republican Bobby Jindal of Louisiana.