Joel Reifman on Wednesday took charge as the new US Consul General in Hyderabad.
"It feels wonderful to have arrived in Hyderabad as US Consul General. I'm already experiencing the warmth and hospitality for which this region of India is so fittingly famous," commented Consul General Reifman.
"The US-India partnership is strong, especially in this region, and we are proud to collaborate with the people of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha on a range of issues that are important to both our countries, from US-India industry and defense ties, to entrepreneurship, to women's empowerment. I look forward to building on the work of my predecessors and making continued progress together with our fantastic team at the Consulate," he added.
Making his first public appearance, Reifman attended the opening of e-commerce giant Amazon's largest global campus in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
Joel Reifman will take over the post held by Katherine Hadda, whose stint recently concluded.
Prior to his present assignment, Reifman served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Dhaka, Bangladesh. His assignments at the State Department in Washington D.C. include Senior Liaison in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research and Deputy Director of the Office of Aviation Negotiations in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs.
Consul General Reifman's other overseas assignments, include Senior Deputy Coordinating Director for Development and Economic Affairs at the US Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, Charge d' Affaires at the US Embassy in Asmara, Eritrea, Provincial Reconstruction Team Leader in Iraq's western Anbar province, and Economic Counselor at both the US Embassy in Panama and the US Embassy in Islamabad. He was a Pearson Fellow in the Office of Senator Joseph Lieberman.
Before joining the State Department, Consul General Reifman served as an Assistant Staff Judge Advocate in the US Air Force. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature from the University of Michigan and a Juris Doctorate from Southern Methodist University.
The rapid growth of IT in the mid-1990s led to a huge demand for software engineers in the US. Many were recruited from Hyderabad, which sends students to the US in large numbers.
According to a study by the US-based Centre for Immigration, there were more than 400,000 Telugu speakers in the US in 2017 - nearly double the number in 2010.
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IANS inputs