D.V. Venkatagiri, regional secretary of the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce, Chennai, India, visited Atlanta last week to meet with officials and business leaders in an effort to shore up economic ties between the two cities.

The visit was organized by the president of TransAtlantic Sales LLC, a company that provides sales and management assistance to international companies expanding into the United States. Mr. Venkatagiri toured the Americasmart and held meetings with a partner at Smith, Gambrell & Russell LLP and an official from the Georgia Department of Economic Development.

Mr. Venkatagiri’s month-long trip was his second visit to the United States. His last occurred in 2001. He said he had two main objectives for stopping in Atlanta after visiting Washington; Columbus, Ohio; Seattle, Wash. and Boise, Idaho.

“The first reason is that we have a growing relationship with Smith, Gambrell and Russell, and with TransAtlantic Sales,” Mr. Venkatagiri told GlobalAtlanta. “The other part of the story is that my sister lives here,” Mr. Venkatagiri said.

Mr. Venkatagiri’s strong ties with TransAtlantic stem from his connections with Michael Hartmann, the company’s president.

Mr. Hartmann traveled to Chennai last November to speak to Indian business leaders during the 10th annual summit on doing business in America, hosted each year by the Indo-American Chamber, which has one of its 14 domestic offices in Chennai.

TransAtlantic Sales does most of its business in Europe, but it has recently landed contracts with Jumbo Bag Co. and other companies in India, Mr. Hartmann said.

Mr. Hartmann, also the director of European operations for law firm Williams, Benator & Libby LLP, will give another presentation at this year’s conference, set to be held Nov. 26-27.

As he did last year, he plans to “wave cautionary flags” about doing business in America, using case studies to show companies how to persevere through risk and potentially achieve huge returns.

Both Mr. Venkatagiri and Mr. Hartmann stressed the need for Indian companies considering investing in the U.S. to have the local representation a company like TransAtlantic offers.

“Not a lot of (Indian) companies have not only the money, but also the know-how” to make the overseas transition, Mr. Venkatagiri said. “That’s why a company like TransAtlantic, with its local knowledge, expertise and networking ability, is so important.”

Mr. Venkatagiri has also invited Michael Kraus, a partner and the practice group leader in the international section of Smith, Gambrell, to give a presentation about legal issues when he accompanies Mr. Hartmann to the 11th annual conference in Chennai this year.

Along with Mr. Hartmann and Mr. Kraus, Mr. Venkatagiri plans to host representatives from Atlanta’s Americasmart at the summit. India is known for its handicrafts and textiles, and he hopes that inviting the Americasmart will give entrepreneurs in his region much-needed exposure on the U.S. stage.

In Mr. Venkatagiri’s conversation with Jim Blair, business development manager for the Georgia's economic development department, Mr. Venkatagiri cited similarities between the Chennai and Atlanta while promoting Chennai as a viable location for a potential Georgia representative office in India.

Chennai, formerly known as Madras, is also a state capital and is what Mr. Venkatagiri calls the “nerve center” of Tamil Nadu, one of India’s southeastern coastal states. With its population of 7 million, Chennai is the fourth largest metropolitan area in India, and the port city serves as an entry point to the rest of the state, which has a widely spread population of 60 million.

Mr. Venkatagiri acknowledged that agriculture plays an important role in both Georgia and Tamil Nadu, and the growing information technology industry in both locales caught his attention.

He also said that he saw in Georgia as well as in Chennai a “seamless transition” from tradition to modernity. Georgia and Tamil Nadu have retained their unique character without passing up opportunities to advance economically and technologically, he said. Story Contacts, Links and Related Stories Indo-American Chamber of Commerce, Chennai, India - D.V. Venkatagiri

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