New Jersey seeks business ties with West Bengal

KOLKATA: New Jersey, the third wealthiest state in the United States, is seeking to explore business and educational ties with West Bengal.

Raj Mukherjee, deputy mayor of Jersey City, largest city in New Jersey, said that there was scope for establishing ties with West Bengal in financial services, higher education, travel and tourism.

"New Jersey has a huge Indian diaspora and 12 per cent of the population are Indians. There is scope for building ties in the fields of financial services, education, travel and tourism", he said at an event at Bengal National Chamber of Commerce here today.

Mukherjee, who is heading a business delegation to India, said that West Bengal still had the potential for growth.

"There are some regulatory issues. One has to be patient and give time and signs of development are already visible in the state", Mukherjee said.

Because of its close proximity to Manhattan, New Jersey attracted a number of financial services firms, he said.