The Agriculture & Food Processing Committee of AMCHAM organized an interactive session with Ms. Jeanne F. Bailey, Minister Counselor for Agricultural Affairs, U.S. Embassy on May 14th over Webex. Mr. Simon George, Chairman – Agriculture & Food Processing Committee, AMCHAM and President, Cargill India, welcomed panelists and participants. In his opening remarks, he spoke about the importance of agriculture in India and how COVID has impacted this essential sector also. He advocated to be well prepared to take on future adversaries and to ensure that a food crisis doesn’t occur as already many countries are grappling with health and economic crises.

He also mentioned the important role American companies were playing in India and would continue doing so. In her address, Ms. Jeanne Bailey touched upon the general bilateral trade between India and the US and said that both the governments have been forthcoming in promoting economic cooperation. While talking about the impact of COVID-19, Ms. Bailey complimented the efforts undertaken by the Indian government especially in ensuring uninterrupted availability of food supply. She asked members to look out for opportunities they can foresee amidst the difficulties created by the pandemic. While talking about Make in India, she advised to make in India with the best inputs available globally.

Mr. Lazaro Sandoval, Senior Agricultural Attaché, Foreign Agricultural Service, Mumbai, talked about the work being done by USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) offices globally through their timely reports on foreign markets through the Global Agriculture Information Network (GAIN) database. Through their Mumbai office they are regularly updating the reports on COVID-19 in India – weekly food retail update and weekly port situation update amongst others. The GAIN database could be accessed at: https://gain.fas.usda.gov/#/search. The webinar concluded with a vote of thanks by Ms. Ranjana Khanna, Director General CEO, AMCHAM.