The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way joined a delegation of members from the New Jersey-Indian Commission at Samudhra restaurant in Franklin Park to announce the Commission’s first trade mission to India.
The trip, scheduled for December 8 to 16, will encompass five cities, including Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, and New Delhi.
“it is my honor to lead the delegation to India,” Way said at a reception in the restaurant’s lounge. “I’m ready for all of the cultural immersions, if you will.”
“We have so much in common,” she said. “I’m talking about our deep trade investments. I’m also speaking about just the investment in our people, in our creativity, and all that we have in hopes to making not only New Jersey, but this entire United States and the world’s connection to India a better place.”
Way, who is also Secretary of State, oversees the Commission, which was formed earlier this year.
Also expected to be part of the mission delegation are members of Choose New Jersey, an organization whose charge it is to market New Jersey to business and entrepreneurs worldwide.
Way noted that Gov. Phil Murphy was the first New Jersey governor to travel to India on a trade mission, which he did in 2019.
“He has laid the foundation for each and every one of us,” she said.
Wesley Mathews, chairman of the New Jersey-India Commission and also president of Choose New Jersey, said the Commission was formed in February “to fulfill the partnership and the potential of the New Jersey India relationship.”
“We are really taking the best of New Jersey, what we have to offer, whether it’s business, philanthropic, higher ed, immigration services, you name it, we are taking our A-Team to India to both showcase kind of the best of New Jersey to India across five cities in about seven days, as well as for this commission to also see kind of the Indian ecosystem and how different parts of the subcontinent have evolved over the years,” he said.
“Really for the rest of all of our lives, India is the big story,” Mathews said. “And in almost every way that that bodes well for the state of New Jersey.”
“Hundreds of Indian entrepreneurs have decided to call New Jersey home since 2019, not just because of our talented workforce and our location, but also because of the fact that they feel at home when they’re here,” he said. “Establishments like this, thanks again to our hosts for hosting us here, but also the community, wherever you go, the length and breadth of the state, you can find, whether you’re from Punjab, or Kerala, or Gujarat, you can find that community here, as well as the many religions from India.”
Rajpal Bath, the Commission’s Executive Director, said the trip “has components of business development, cultural engagements, educational engagements.”
“The purpose of the commission itself is, there’s three pillars: bilateral trade, educational engagement, and cultural engagement,” he said. “And so what we’re doing is basically continuing to build upon the foundation of the New Jersey-Indian Corridor on the business side, but also, you know, going a little further and deepening our roots and connections.”
“New Jersey is actually one of the most popular spots for startups from India to come lay down roots, and then actually create jobs here in New Jersey,” he said. “They create jobs that help the community and so because of that continuous growth over, at this point the last three to four decades, the purpose of this Commission is to continue to feed that energy so that we could show that New Jersey is a business state that really encourages businesses to come.”
“That is one element of the trip that we’re doing,” he said. “Engage with startups, engage with incubators, but also to add an educational component of how our higher ed can partner with higher ed in India.”
Mangesh Chinthamaneni, owner of Samudhra, said he was “honored” to have the lieutenant governor at the restaurant.
“We’ll always be a part of anything that’s related to India, like, encouraging business ties and mutual cooperation between the countries and the states,” he said. “So, you know, whatever little support we can do, we are doing it.”
