New York, January 6, 2006
Ashok Gupta
NRI, non resident Indian, Mr. Andy K Shenoy was appointed senior
position as advisor to New York Governor George E Pataki to strengthen
trade and business ties between India and New York Andy Shenoy
is president of Indo-American Promotions (non-profit organisation),
an organisation that facilitated the development of economic ties
and relations between New York state and India in 2003, served
as a liaison between the Indian government and the state of New
York and was the recipient of the Governor's Award of Excellence
in 2005.
Mr. Andy Shenoy said that the NYC Governor is expected to have
high-level meetings in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore to discuss
the strengthening of ties and seek investments in New York.
Shenoy has a BS in economics and president of Mitra Enterprises
Inc. He immigrated to the United States in 1990 from Mumbai and
opened business of diamonds and diamond jewellery.
Shenoy, who is originally from Goa with strong connections in
Karnataka, has been in the US for well over two decades. Primarily
interested in the diamond business, he said he decided to diversify
because of the fluctuating conditions. He is the president of
the Trivision Group, Inc.
In 1993, when a relatively unknown George Pataki decided to jump
into the race for governor of New York, Shenoy decided to throw
his weight behind the Republican leader.
"I did not think Governor Pataki could win but out of a
personal friendship with Senator Alfonse Marcello D'amato I decided
to stand by him. I helped raise funds for his campaign. A lot
of people thought I was backing the wrong horse," Shenoy,
a diamond, real estate and software businessman, recalled.
On the day the results were to be declared, Shenoy and some of
his friends got together to "celebrate Pataki's defeat"
because they had done their best and could not do much more than
preparing for what they thought was a defeat.
Then the news came that, in fact, their candidate had won. "From
then till now the governor has not forgotten us. He values our
friendship now as much as he did then," Shenoy said.
That is evident, with Shenoy being awarded so many years later.
Now Shenoy is working on a visit by Pataki to India. The original
plan was to visit in May last year but because of India's parliamentary
elections, the plan was put on hold.
"I have always been passionate about building ties between
the state of New York and India because I see some strong alliances,"
Shenoy said.
"We are planning to go later this year. We have not finalised
the date yet but it will probably be after September when Governor
Pataki visits China. I am travelling with him there as well,"
Shenoy said.
The proposed India visit will be a focused one with the governor
specifically exploring business opportunities between the state
and India.
"We are looking at bilateral trade in terms of infrastructure,
IT, biotech and finance. There are tremendous opportunities between
the companies in the state and India.
In the context of the Indian American community's involvement
with politics, Shenoy said, "We should be everywhere irrespective
of the party. Our focus should be on anyone is who is helpful
to our cause and India. I have friends both among the Democrats
and Republicans."
Asked why many more Indian Americans tend to support the Democratic
Party than the Republican Party, Shenoy said, "Because minorities
think Republicans support only the rich. That is of course not
true. It is a question of perception. I am not a big, wealthy
businessman. But I see a lot of strengths in the Republican Party."
Shenoy said bilateral relations between India and the US had
picked up much greater momentum under President George W. Bush
than before. "So, one cannot make a general statement that
only one party is good for the community," he said.
