Sitharaman meets US business leaders, pitches India as investment hub

Washington: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met business leaders in the US in sectors ranging from agriculture to artificial intelligence and invited them to explore opportunities in India as a hub for global operations.

Sitharaman met Brandon Tseng, co-founder and president of Shield AI; Mark S Hoplamazian, president and CEO of Hyatt; and Luca Zaramella, executive vice president and COO of Mondelez International, in Chicago on Friday. The finance minister also met Monish Patolawala, executive vice president and CFO of Archer Daniels Midland (ADM); and Sachin Lawande, president and CEO of Visteon Corporation. The discussions with Tseng focused on Shield AI’s engagement with India and opportunities to deepen cooperation in AI-enabled autonomy, unmanned systems and next-generation defence technologies, including R&D, technology development, co-development and co-production.

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The discussions with Patolawala covered ADM’s long-standing commitment to India and significant opportunities to deepen its engagement across agriculture, food, nutrition, technology and sustainable value chains.

Sitharaman welcomed ADM’s investments in India, including its growing farmer partnerships, engagement with Farmer Producer Organisations and establishment of its global technology and AI capabilities in Bengaluru.