Business Roundtable President John J. Castellani Appointed to Private Sector Advisory Group by the U.S.-India Trade Policy Forum

Washington, DC – John J. Castellani, president of Business Roundtable, an association of 160 chief executive officers of leading U.S. corporations, was appointed to a private-sector panel that will advise government leaders on ways to bolster trade and investment ties between the United States and India.

The Private Sector Advisory Group was created by the U.S.-India Trade Policy Forum (TPF) during its sixth ministerial-level meeting in New Delhi on April 13.

"The U.S. relationship with India is fast becoming one of our most important, and I am honored to play a small role in helping deepen the ties between our two nations," said Castellani. "The Private Sector Advisory Group will be an agent for ideas to take our economic relationship to the next level."

On the U.S. side, Mr. Castellani is joined by Ambassador Carla A. Hills, former U.S. trade representative and current chairman and CEO of Hills & Co.; C. Fred Bergsten, director of the Pete G. Peterson Institute for International Economics (IIE); and Mr. Ron Somers, president of the U.S. India Business Council.

Representatives from India include: Lt. General S.S. Mehta, (Ret.), director general, Confederation of Indian Industries (CII); Dr. Amit Mitra, secretary general, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FIICI); Dr. Rajiv Kumar, director and chief executive, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations; and Dr. V. Krishnamurthy, chairman, National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council.

Instituting the newly formed Private Sector Advisory Group is the U.S.-India Trade Policy Forum, launched during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to Washington, DC, in July 2005. The forum was designed to deepen the relationship between the two countries by promoting greater trade and investment. The U.S.-India Trade Policy Forum is chaired by U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab and Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath.

Since joining Business Roundtable in May 2001, John J. Castellani has significantly strengthened the Roundtable's reputation in Washington, DC, nationally and internationally and has led the Roundtable's efforts on key public policy issues including trade expansion.

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Business Roundtable (www.businessroundtable.org) is an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. companies with $4.5 trillion in annual revenues and more than 10 million employees. Member companies comprise nearly a third of the total value of the U.S. stock markets and represent over 40 percent of all corporate income taxes paid. Collectively, they returned $112 billion in dividends to shareholders and the economy in 2005.

Roundtable companies give more than $7 billion a year in combined charitable contributions, representing nearly 60 percent of total corporate giving. They are technology innovation leaders, with $90 billion in annual research and development spending - nearly half of the total private R&D spending in the U.S.

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