As the President-elect continues to put together his cabinet, the rest of the world continues to wonder what the policies of the Trump Administration will be. That’s certainly true in the Asia Pacific. And this week, many business people in India are trying to figure out what Donald Trump might mean for their future. HPR’s Bill Dorman has more in today’s Asia Minute.
You may have heard about the three Indian real estate developers who met with Donald Trump after the election. They came away with a photo sharing a thumbs-up with the president-elect….which they promptly spread around on social media as a marketing device. All three have built hotels with the Trump name…and one was quoted by the New York Times as saying “future business deals” were discussed at the meeting.
There are five Trump-branded projects under development in India…with one real estate company estimating the total value at $1.5 billion dollars. Three more may be on the way next year. As with many other places, Trump sells his name as a brand, but doesn’t actually build the properties or invest in them.
Elsewhere in India, there’s concern about what a Trump Administration might mean for technology jobs—and the H-1 B visa in particular. That’s the visa program that allows skilled workers into this country 65,000, plus another 20,000 graduate students.
Trump had mixed rhetoric on the campaign trail about the H-1B visa, but as Indian news sites have been quick to point out this week, his pick for Attorney General, Senator Jeff Sessions, has been a critic of the program.
Last year, Sessions introduced legislation to cut the number of visas available to outsourcing companies….many of which, like Infosys, are based in India.
