The AmCham FCPA breakfast session with Protiviti, took place on 27th July, 2016 in Gurgaon. The session began with a presentation entitled “Going Beyond the Headlines – Dissecting recent FCPA cases and learning from them” by Vikas Mehta, Senior Manager, Forensic Services, Protiviti India. The objective was to provoke a debate on how to be better equipped to handle such eventualities. Next, Suprabhat NM, Managing Director & Leader, Forensic Services, Protiviti India, spoke on “Wrestling with FCPA – Discussing the finer nuances through illustrative examples.” An interactive discussion followed that highlighted the practical challenges around FCPA compliance. The session concluded with a call to action and discussion on the components of a local FCPA fitness program.

On 25th July 2016, AmCham and USIBC co-hosted an interactive session with Ambassador Robert Holleyman, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative, at ACSA, U.S. Embassy, New Delhi. The USTR team also included Dawn Shackleford, Deputy Assistant USTR, and Conor Harrington, IPR Director, USTR.

Ambassador Holleyman emphasized USTR’s singular focus of creating a stronger, unified trade relationship between the U.S. and India. They continue to have regular dialogues with GOI. The upcoming 10th U.S. – India Trade Policy Forum (TPF) will take place in New Delhi in October. The team was in town to meet with their counterparts at the Department of Commerce and DIPP to prepare for the TPF. He mentioned, the new IT policy has been encouraging even though the pace of reform may be slower than desired. Some of the areas focused on for this visit included the digital economy, manufacturing and agriculture, to understand where there are points of friction and try to minimize it. They also mentioned patents, trade secrets, local sourcing requirements and trade facilitation. USTR has had positive engagement in the copyright sector as India has consolidated their copyright functions into the DIPP.

Ambassador Holleyman mentioned the “Digital 2 Dozen,” a list of principles embodied in the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). The TPP included cutting-edge obligations are designed to promote the digital economy through a free and open internet and commerce without borders.

Some of the challenges and opportunities highlighted by participants were from the following sectors:

Agriculture
E-commerce
ICT
Insurance
IPR
Medical devices
Pharmaceuticals
It was mentioned that the upcoming U.S. – India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue will have a focus on standards.

AmCham, in association with the Government of West Bengal, organized an interactive session on investment opportunities in West Bengal on 25th July in New Delhi. The objective of this interaction was to explore opportunities and identify solutions for transforming the state of West Bengal into a world class business and commercial destination.

Ms. Madhvi Kataria, Deputy Executive Director, AmCham, in her welcome address, said that the West Bengal Government had taken a number of initiatives to promote West Bengal as an investment destination. Some of the areas where American businesses can partner with the state of West Bengal are in the areas of healthcare, education, manufacturing, e-commerce, logistics, infrastructure, IT, etc.

The GoWB was represented by Dr. Krishna Gupta, IAS, Principal Secretary, Commerce & Industry and Public Enterprise & Industrial Reconstruction, Mr. Surendra Gupta, IAS, Managing Director, West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) and Mr. Kaushick Saha, WBCS, Executive Director, West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC). Opportunities for investment in the following sectors were discussed: manufacturing, IT software & hardware, urban infrastructure & housing, tourism and entertainment, MSME and textiles, healthcare, education and skills, energy and infrastructure, transport services, maritime, defense, gas, automobile and auto ancillaries, and pharmaceuticals. Opportunities in the six “green cities” in West Bengal were also highlighted. Dr. Gupta also emphasized that West Bengal was the natural hub for connectivity to the north eastern states as well as to south Asian countries. He highlighted that there was surplus power in the state and no labour issues in the last five years resulting in no loss of man-days in the state. He extended an invitation to all members to participate in the Bengal Global Business Summit – 2017 from 20th -21st January in Kolkata.

Mr. Debdas Sen, AmCham Eastern Region Co-Vice Chairman and CEO TCG Digital, in his opening remarks shared with members TCG Digital’s success story in the state. Mr. Joydeep Dutta Gupta, AmCham Eastern Region Executive Committee Member and Partner and Regional Practice Leader Deloitte East, gave the concluding remarks and vote of thanks. He also reconfirmed the invitation to all members to participate in the West Bengal Global Summit scheduled in January 2017.

AmCham Hyderabad organized a farewell for Michael Mullins, Consul General, U.S. Consulate Hyderabad at Westin Mindspace, Hyderabad on 18th July 2016.

Members thanked Michael for his commitment to the upliftment of society and the strong relationship with AmCham. Dr. Kiranmai Pendyala, Chairperson – Hyderabad Chapter, AmCham, commenced the session by thanking Michael for always being available and interested in what AmCham was doing. The past Chairpersons of AmCham Hyderabad, who were present at this meeting, also spoke.

Michael thanked the Hyderabad Chapter for the commendable work they were doing. He mentioned that his first ever public event on assumption of office in Hyderabad was the AmCham Healthcare Conference and he really appreciated the conference. He was also thankful to the members for their support in strengthening the bilateral ties between the U.S. and India and the relationship shared with the Industry partners. He was appreciative of the AmCham Hyderabad leadership and what they were doing for the enhancement of trade in India.

Mr. Alapan Bandyopadhyay, IAS, Principal Secretary, Department of Transport, Vice Chairman, Nabadiganta Industrial Township Authority & Managing Director, West Bengal Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation, addressed AmCham Eastern Region members on Friday, July 15, 2016 at The Hyatt Regency Kolkata, as chief guest, at an interactive breakfast session on “The West Bengal Transport Policy and Investment Opportunity.”

In his opening remarks Mr. Bandyopadhyay outlined the strategic importance of the state of West Bengal and the city of Kolkata in the context of opportunities for the Indian economy as a whole. He pointed out that Kolkata is the gateway to the east and is the largest city in many hundred kilometers in any direction. In this context, Mr. Bandyopadhyay pointed out the criticality of the transportation system both within the city as well as a trans-shipment location. Mr. Bandyopadhyay mentioned that significant investments have been planned in developing the inland waterways and that this would be transformational for the eastern region economy. Goods would be transported from upcountry along the waterways to markets in the east and north east and to neighboring countries. A deep sea port would be developed at Sagar Island which would result in restoring the strategic commercial importance of Kolkata.

The infrastructure of the city of Kolkata is being upgraded to address the requirements of the future. A three- pronged policy in this regard has been adopted in the transport sector:

(A) Strengthening and upgrading services being provided by the state transport undertakings and continuing to enhance the efficiencies

(B) Regulating services being provided by the private sector

(C) Strengthening of infrastructure facilities

Transport undertakings of the state play a pivotal role in the sphere of passenger transportation on road as well as on water transport sector through their state wide networks. The public transport sector is essential for providing transport services to areas covered by routes that are not remunerative, as these are avoided by private transport operators. The state government has, therefore, been expanding and upgrading the state transport undertakings. Efforts have been made to improve the efficiency of these undertakings by improving operating standards and by strengthening the infrastructure of these undertakings with funds from different sources. Consequently, the state transport undertakings are adopting certain measures like:

Increasing the average number of buses/ trams on roads per day
Increasing the percentage of fleet utilization against the fleet strength
Reducing the staff-bus ratio
Renovation of buses
Increasing KMPL rate
Utilization of unused or under-used land and spaces to increase revenue

The introductions to the session was done by Ms. Amada Kidwai, Regional Director – Eastern Region, AmCham, Mr. Joydeep Datta Gupta, AmCham EC member did the welcome remarks, Mr. Gulshan Sachdev, Vice Chairman, AmCham, gave the concluding remarks and Ms. Britta Leick-Milde gave the vote of thanks.

AmCham’s CSR Committee Meeting took place in Gurgaon on 15th July under the new leadership of Mr. Harish Krishnan, Executive Director, Public Affairs & Strategic Engagements, India & SAARC, Cisco.

The following points were discussed:

Utilizing this 2% CSR budget – the ambiguity of it
Addressing concerns with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs
Views on setting up an AmCham Foundation
Co-creation of possibilities together
The meeting began with introductions by everyone present. Each person explained about the various projects they were engaged in. Potential partnership opportunities in each and every project were discussed in detail. An effort was put into understanding the project, challenges, logistics, location constraints and then connecting people there and then if required. It was decided to develop a communicative directory with such information for all AmCham members which will serve as an important toolkit for the industry.

During our NGO showcase, Magic Bus Foundation talked about their amazing project of steering children towards a better life with better awareness, better life skills, and better opportunities, in the journey from childhood to livelihood.

Mr. Harish Krishnan thanked all members, as well as the Magic Bus Foundation, for their participation.