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22 PCB007 MAGAZINE I SEPTEMBER 2022 As president and CEO of the global electron- ics industry association, I have many opportu- nities to visit electronics manufacturing com- panies worldwide. Recently, while in India, I had the pleasure of attending Integrated Elec- tronics Manufacturing & Interconnections (IEMI), a celebration of 10 years of IPC activ- ities in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and the middle east Africa region. I was encouraged by how much growth has occurred over the past decade. Poised to become a global manu- facturing hub, India is emerging as a dynamic market for our industry. e government has opened its doors to foreign investors, laying out the red carpet for manufacturing compa- nies, and the industry is thriving. Because it is estimated that manufacturing opportunities in India will bring the industry $200 billion by 2026—a large increase from the $75 million India currently takes in—it's easy to see why the electronics manufacturing indus- try is looking so closely at India and all that it has to offer. Labor costs are low, the industry is very savvy technically, and English (a domi- nant language in the business world) is widely spoken. India's transformation to a vital manufactur- ing hub includes Apple opening operations and manufacturing phones there, providing one of the largest products in terms of dollars that Indians consume from a "local" manufacturer. Government officials are reimbursing por- tions of company investments, based on objec- tives met by participating companies. Officials encourage semiconductor manufacturing and hope to entice companies to seek out India as a potential spot to set up shop. To celebrate IPC's decade in India, I was accompanied to the inaugural IEMI by IPC staff executives Sanjay Huprikar and David Bergman. IEMI is a planned annual event encouraging designers, manufacturers, trad- ers, suppliers, service providers, and technical experts to connect with one another and gov- ernment officials through member networking events, workshops, and skill challenge compe- Opportunities in India for Electronics Manufacturing One World, One Industry Feature Column by Dr. John Mitchell, IPC PRESIDENT AND CEO John Mitchell delivering his keynote, "Electronics Manufacturing Embraces Digital."