US Commerce Secretary Norman Mineta says "Diverse Community brings vitality when we work together."

Washington, DC: Despite the extraordinarily tight security at the US Department of State due to the Lunch hosted by the Vice President Al Gore in honor of the visiting Prime Minister of India Atal Behari Vajpayee, the People to People conference was attended by about 200 persons hailing from all over the country from California to Florida to New Jersey. The Organizers of the Conference apologized to those who could not enter the State Department due to tight security.

The Conference was organized by three national organizations: The Association of Indians in America (AIA), The Indian American Leadership Council (IALC) and the National Council of Asian Indian Associations (NCAIA). The P2P Conference, a brain child of Dr. Kamala Edwards, President of IALC was fully nurtured by Dr. Piyush C. Agrawal, National President of AIA, Mr. Abraham Samuel, Executive Vice President of NCAIA, Mr. Ashok Saxena, Vice President, STARTEC and Mr. Vinod Ghildiyal, President & CEO of Globe One.

Dr. Piyush C. Agrawal, National President of AIA welcoming
US Commerce Secretary Honorable Norman Mineta.

The cooperation received from the US State Department and the White House was of tremendous help and deserves full credit for the success of the Conference.

Honorable Norman Mineta, the US Commerce Secretary gave the keynote speech on "Shared Prosperity & the Digital Divide." He highlighted the contribution of the Indian-American community to the social and economic life in the USA.

Mr. Mineta, in his remarks, dealt with the key issues related to improving trade in the High Tech area. He extolled the financial support of the Indian Community to the democratic process through various fund raising events, but also challenged the Community and the Administration that it was high time to tap the human resources of the highest caliber available in the Indian Community.

Mr. Mineta responding to questions from the audience.

The Conference was opened by the South Asia Regional Affairs Director at the US State Department, Mr. Nicholas H. Riegg. Closing remarks were also offered by Mr. Riegg.

The five sessions were held on such a wide variety of topics as "Local & State Governance," "Environment & Transportation," "Intercultural Partnerships & Communications," "Biotechnology & Public Health," and "Information Revolution & Economic Growth." The panelists who conducted these sessions were eminent scholars and elected officials from the local, state and national governments, think tanks, Universities, foundations and world bodies such as the World Bank. It seemed like a gathering of Who's Who in America.

Two of the most common comments heard from the participants were: "When is the next conference going to be held?" and "How could these three national organizations work together so cooperatively?"

For more information, contact Dr. Piyush C. Agrawal at the numbers/address given below.