By Arul Louis
New York, Dec 14 (IANS) Calling her one of the "pioneering CEOs," President-elect Donald Trump appointed PepsiCo Chairman Indra Nooyi on Wednesday to the President's Strategic and Policy Forum that will consult with him on implementing his economic agenda.
"America has the most innovative and vibrant companies in the world, and the pioneering CEOs joining this Forum today are at the top of their fields," Trump said.
"My administration is going to work together with the private sector to improve the business climate and make it attractive for firms to create new jobs across the United States from Silicon Valley to the heartland."
The forum is headed by Stephen Schwarzman, the CEO of the investment company Blackstone and includes Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric, and CEOs Elon Musk of SpaceX and Tesla, Uber's Travis Kalanick; Jamie Dimon of Chase and Mary Barra of General Motors.
Trump's transition team said that forum members will give Trump their views on government policy, job-creation and productivity "in a frank, non-bureaucratic and non-partisan manner."
Nooyi heads a multinational with an annual revenue of $63 billion that emplys 110,000 people.
A graduate of Madras Christian College in Chennai, she has management degrees from the Indian Institute of Management in Kolkata and Yale University.
Earlier Trump had appointed Shalabh Kumar, the chair of the Republican Hindu Coalition, to the transition finance and the inauguration teams.
The finance team members review prospects for administration positions and makes recommendations to Trump.
The inauguration team organises the festivities for Trump's swearing in as president on January 20.
(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in)
