O'Malley: $60M In Deals Signed On India Trip
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) -- The governor's trip to India brought back some big souvenirs: millions of dollars in business deals for Maryland firms.
Alex DeMetrick reports it's a foreign market that has been rapidly growing and shows no signs of slowing down.
A couple dozen of the 100 Maryland businesses, educators and government agencies that took a trip to India with Governor Martin O'Malley tallied up the take of a trade mission.
"We signed nearly $60 million in business deals for our state and there are several additional deals worth millions that we are still working on," O'Malley said.
What India is buying from Maryland extends from road construction technology to biomedical services to curriculum for a massive expansion in higher education.
"India hopes to educate about 500 million young people in the next 15 to 20 years. That will be the biggest experiment in access to higher education at that level," said Montgomery College Vice Chancellor Sanjay Rai.
But a slideshow highlighting one trade agreement after another only showcased the most recent deals.
"And from 2005 until now, our exports increased by 70 percent to India," said Maryland Economic Development Secretary Christian Johanson.
Meaning more getaways from Annapolis are likely.
According to the State Department, Maryland's trade delegation did more to drum up business in India than most other states.
