Members of AmCham’s National Executive Board, members of AmCham Karnataka Executive Committee and U.S. Embassy officials met with the Chief Minister of Karnataka, Mr. Siddaramaiah, on 25th August 2015 in Bangalore. The Chief Minister was accompanied by Mr. Kaushik Mukherjee, Chief Secretary; Ms K. Ratna Prabha, Additional Chief Secretary, Commerce & Industries Department; and other officials of the Government of Karnataka…..

On Friday, August 21, 2015; AmCham Eastern Chapter organised a breakfast interactive session on “The Highlights of the New IT Policy of West Bengal”. Mr. S. Kishore, IAS, Principal Secretary, Departments of Information Technology & Electronics and Commerce & Industries, Government of West Bengal was the Chief Guest.

Amada Kidwai Regional Director AmCham Eastern Chapter gave the introduction, Mr. Dinesh Agarwal, Chairman, Eastern Region, in his welcome address expressed excitement over Chief Minister’s visit to United Kingdom which he hopes will bring bilateral prospects in the field of Commerce & Industry, Health, Education, Art & Conservation, Urban planning, etc. He said that this development will be able to generate attention among all potential investors across the country and globe and the state will be able to utilise its true potential by attracting investment and generating opportunities for all…..

On August 19, 2015; Dr. Krishna Gupta requested a meeting with Mr. Dinesh Agarwal, Chairman AmCham Eastern Chapter and Amada Kidwai, Regional Director.

Present from the GOWB was The Honorable Dr. Amit Mitra, Minister-in-Charge of Finance, Excise, Commerce & Industries, Public Enterprise, Industrial Reconstruction & Commerce and Industry, Dr. Krishna Gupta, IAS, M.D. West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation, (WBIDC), Mr. S. Kishore, IAS, Principal Secretary, Departments of Information Technology & Electronics and Commerce & Industries, GOWB and Mr. Kaushick Saha, Executive Director WBIDC…..

AmCham members met with Mr. Rajiv Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Department of Industrial Promotion and Policy; and Ms Mugdha Sinha, Director, Department of Commerce, Government of India, on 19th August 2015 in New Delhi. The purpose of the interaction was to firm up issues, concerns and challenges which can be taken up during the forthcoming Government-to-Government Strategic and Commercial Dialogue taking place in Washington D.C. Challenges related to ICT, medical devices, aviation and taxation were taken up in greater detail. Another meeting for ICT and civil aviation is planned before the bilateral dialogue. The date and time will be announced shortly.

The SCL Sharing and Learning Concall opened with Ms. Surabhi Wahal welcoming the members and sharing the agenda for the call. Mr. Nikhil expressed gratitude to Mr. Rajender Jog for taking the initiative at this meeting to share ‘Best practices in Supply Chain at Dow)

Mr. Rajender Jog began his presentation with a brief introduction on Dow India and his experience across various segments within Dow. The presentation was an insightful sharing of Dow India’s diversity across the sciences of biology, chemicals and physics; its marked presence in electronic and functional material, infrastructure solutions, agricultural sciences, performance materials, feedstock, energy, among others. Dow has made its presence in India- in Gujarat, Hyderabad, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu with manufacturing sites, application development centers and centers for excellence. Dow India also focuses highly on CSR through various initiatives in health, hygiene, environment and education……

The agenda of the meeting was to share updates on the efforts by members towards the forthcoming SCL meetings and events. Industry experts who could be approached as speakers were decided upon.

As the invitation to the event would be extended beyond the SCL committee members, it was decided to have an internal face to face committee meeting between 2pm- 3pm where committee members can brainstorm and invite comments on SCL challenges. The meeting would be followed by the event from 3pm to 6pm. A proposal to extend the event invitation to other AmCham sectoral committees that might benefit from the experiences and discussions, thereby gaining greater traction and more shared value. An update was also shared about the white paper being worked upon between AmCham and Deloitte with regards to the challenges in the Supply Chain and Logistic sector which would be presented to relevant Government stakeholders of India and the U.S.