Indian-origin Governor of the US state of South Carolina, Nikki Haley on

Indian-origin Governor of the US state of South Carolina, Nikki Haley on Thursday said she is very optimistic about India and will focus on building ties between the two countries.

“We are very optimistic about where India is going and believe that the world is looking at the country enthusiastically. We see a lot of opportunity to do business in India and also Indian entrepreneurs can benefit by investing in South Carolina. We will focus on trying to find ways to build ties between the two nations,” Haley told reporters on the sidelines of a CII conference on ‘Women in Leadership’ here.

Haley said she has initiated talks with industries like, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, Information Technology, agriculture and auto among others.

The Governor also said she would like to take delegations from India to South Carolina to encourage investment.

Gov. Nikki Haley says she’s confident her trip to India will lead to job announcements in South Carolina. The state’s 10-day economic development trip concludes Friday.

The recently re-elected Republican governor says she’ll return with hundreds of contacts.

But Haley says it’s also been an emotional trip for her personally. She had no memories of her last visit to India at age 2 and says it’s been overwhelming to see places her parents talked about.

Haley is among eight people in the delegation whose costs are paid by taxpayers.

It’s the first time Haley took a spokesman for her office on a trade trip. Due to her celebrity status in India, Haley says she needed someone to handle “overly enthusiastic” reporters.

Source AP