AMCHAM’s Tamil Nadu Chapter Executive Committee met on January 12th hosted by Mr. R. Ramkumar, Chairman – Tamil Nadu Chapter, AMCHAM, at the Madras Club. The meeting began with a discussion on the Tamil Nadu Government’s Global Investor Meet to be held in Chennai on January 23-24. With no big ticket investment from member companies, there may be a low key representation.

Mr. Ramkumar shared his thoughts on some of the B Schools in the states and that liberal arts education was gaining traction vis a vis STEM education. It was decided to invite Dr. Sunder Ramaswamy to address members on this subject at one of the forthcoming breakfast meetings. It was also decided to conduct an event on D&I to coincide with a meeting of the NEB in Chennai, prior to AGM. Nominations for the Executive Committee for the period 2019 – 2020 were invited.

With the nation going to the polls in 2019, it was decided to invite Dr. Rajeeva Laxman Karandikar, Director of the Chennai Mathematical Institute, a well-respected psephologist, to address members on the election scenario. This event would be a dinner event and open to members and their senior colleagues. Given the recent incidents on the labour front at some of the industrial parks in the state, it has been decided to invite the Secretary for Labour to address members on the state government’s efforts and initiatives to maintain good industrial relations.

With the TN government banning single-use plastics in the state w.e.f. January 1st, Mr. Madhusudhan Reddy, I.A.S, Deputy Commissioner (Health), Greater Chennai Corporation would be invited to address members on the wider implications of this move with a focus on the manufacturing sector. The other topics that will be taken up for breakfast meetings this year included: 3D printing, robotics, upskilling, CSR and academia – industry partnerships. Plant visits to Caterpillar and Borg Warner as part of the ‘Sharing Best Practices’ platform were discussed.