AMCHAM’s Hyderabad Chapter Annual Day 2019 was held on March 25th, 2019 at the Ballroom Westin Mindspace. The event began with the lighting of the lamp by Mr. Shashidhar Reddy, Chairman Hyderabad Chapter, AMCHAM and VP Engineering Qualcomm, Ms. Swati Lakra IPS, IG Law and Order & I/C Women Safety, Government of Telangana, Mr. Eric Alexander, Consular Chief, U.S. Consulate General Hyderabad and Mr. Rakesh Singhania, CFO, Wells Fargo. A classical dance performance by CDK Global set the tone for the commencement of the cultural program.

Mr. Shashi Reddy addressed the gathering and gave a brief of AMCHAM’s activities in Hyderabad. Ms. Swati Lakra IPS, chief guest of the day spoke on women’s safety in Telangana and the SHE teams who work behind the scenes to ensure safety of women and that anyone found abusing women are apprehended. She shared her vision to see a world where women would be safe. She was given the task of women’s safety by Chief Minister Chandrasekhar Rao and they have built up the SHE teams, which also provides free shuttle buses for women in the Hi-Tech city area.

Mr. Eric Alexander, Consular Chief, U.S. Consulate Hyderabad, spoke on AMCHAM being active in everything from bilateral trade promotion to sports and cultural events. He said that the sporting events were a great example of the strong community leadership and team spirit that AMCHAM demonstrates in Hyderabad. He also spoke on how U.S. and India have made huge strides in economic diplomacy. He thanked the members for their work in building bridges and strengthening ties between both countries.

The prize distribution was divided into three sets. The first set of prize distribution for all the sponsoring companies, winners and runners was given by Ms. Swati Lakra IPS. This was followed by a medley of songs by Rajasekhar from Cognizant. The second set of prize distribution was done by Mr. Eric Alexander of the U.S. Consulate. This was followed by a Metro Group Dance by employees of CDK Global. The final set of prize distribution was done by Mr. Rakesh Singhania of Wells Fargo and was followed by a presentation of gift vouchers to cultural performances by Mr. Abhishek Tomar of S&P Global. The gift vouchers were sponsored by Westin. Mr. Prakash Bodla, Vice Chairman – Hyderabad Chapter, AMCHAM and Head of UTC HRDC, gave the vote of thanks and thanked all the sponsors for the year. The event culminated with dinner and networking.