US Trade Official Reaffirms Ties to India with Visit to Hyderabad

Assistant Secretary for the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service, Department of Commerce, Suresh Kumar was born in Hyderabad and grew up in New Delhi Assistant Secretary for the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service, Department of Commerce, Suresh Kumar, visited Hyderabad to meet with members of the business community and to reaffirm trade ties with India.

Assistant Secretary Kumar is on a seven-day visit to India with stops in New Delhi and Mumbai as well as Hyderabad. Suresh Kumar was nominated by President Obama and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Director General for the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service at the U.S. Department of Commerce.

As Assistant Secretary and Director General, Mr. Kumar leads the U.S and Foreign Commercial Service (USFCS). The extensive worldwide network of the USFCS extends to 109 offices across the U.S and 127 offices overseas in 77 countries.

USFCS is the trade promotion arm of the US Government that supports and provides customized solutions to U.S. businesses so that they can compete and win in the global marketplace. In his meetings Assistant Secretary spoke about President Obama’s National Export Initiative (NEI): “The NEI is an unprecedented, comprehensive strategy aimed at doubling U.S. exports over five years, while creating two millions jobs in the U.S. The NEI leverages the resources of all the departments and agencies of the U.S. Government that support trade to better assist American businesses that want to sell their goods and services abroad.”

But he highlighted, “One of America’s key strengths is our ability to create and sell products and services that help others around the world improve lives and livelihoods.” The USFCS has helped Hyderabadi firms grow their businesses by introducing them to U.S. companies in the areas of franchising, green building, mining and more. During his visit to the city, Assistant Secretary Kumar met with senior officials in the green energy, pharmaceutical/biotech, and infrastructure sectors to learn more about leveraging more U.S.-India partnerships in these booming industries.

Assistant Secretary Kumar was born in Hyderabad, India and grew up in New Delhi. After an economics and business education at Delhi and Bombay universities, he began a 30-year career in international business in India. From India, he moved with his family to Indonesia and Singapore to run the businesses of major global companies. Ultimately, he settled in North America, first in Canada and then the United States, as the head of Worldwide Consumer Pharmaceuticals for Johnson and Johnson.