HR Committee Meeting – 22nd September 2016

The third meeting of AmCham’s HR Committee was held on 22nd September 2016 in Bangalore at the IBM office, under the leadership of Mr. DP Singh, Chairman – HR Committee and VP – HR (India/South Asia), IBM India and Mr. Sameer Mathur, Co-Chair and SVP – HR, Citibank. Ms. Mamta Uppal, Membership & Events Manager, AmCham, welcomed the committee members.

Mr. DP Singh in his opening observations apprised the participants about the sudden demise of Paridhi Goel Thakur, a young employee of AmCham, who was in charge of the HR Committee. A two-minute silence was also observed as a mark of respect to Paridhi. A condolence resolution was passed by the Chair, Co-Chair and committee members and “The Paridhi Excellence Award” was announced.

Going forward, for the remaining 2016 and first quarter of 2017, the HR Committee would be focusing on the following 3 charters:

HR Digitization and Future of Work, Chair, Mr. Sarthak RayChaudhuri, Whirlpool of India Limited
Labor Reforms, Chair, Mr. Pramath Nath, KPMG
Employee Frauds, Chair, Ms. Kavita Mathur, GT
The following two presentations were made:

Pavithra Sampath, HRTO Manager, IBM – made a presentation on fraud analytics
Neha Chakraborthy, Recruitment Leader, IBM – made a presentation on IBM’s background checks for recruitments

In his concluding remarks, Mr. DP Singh thanked the committee members for their participation.

The Changing Landscape of Global Immigration by Fragomen Worldwide and AMCHAM – 21st September 2016

On 21st September, AmCham, along with Fragomen Worldwide, organized a conference on “The Changing Landscape of Global Immigration.” Saju James, Partner Fragomen India, welcomed the guests and briefly spoke on collaboration, talent management and global mobility. Austin T. Fragomen also spoke. The key note address was by Lance Kaplan, Partner, Fragomen Worldwide and focused on worldwide corporate immigration trends, significant shift in policies, and the importance of short term travel.

The panel discussion on U.S. immigration – enforcement trends and upcoming legislation featured speakers Cynthia J. Lange – Partner, Fragomen Worldwide, Carmita Alonso – Partner, Fragomen Worldwide, R. Blake Chisam – Partner, Fargomen Worldwide and Ravi K. Raghunathan – Global Immigration Leader, IBM. The session was moderated by Scott J. Fitzgerald, Partner, Fragomen Worldwide.

The panel discussed the impact of the upcoming U.S. elections, pressures on U.S. immigration and outsourcing, perception of jobs and insecurity, political pressures and the proposed H1B cap performance system legislation, 50/50 employer obligations like recruitment and non-displacement attestations, third party placement, three-tier wager system for H1-B’s and L1 and the expanded employer liability. The event was attended by many member organizations.

Invitation to a Meeting with Mr. Talleen Kumar, IAS, Principal Secretary Departments of Information Technology & Electronics, Government of West Bengal – 20th September 2016

Mr. Talleen Kumar, IAS, Principal Secretary Departments of Information Technology & Electronics, Government of West Bengal invited AMCHAM to attend a meeting on 20th September. Representatives from the IT industry and various IT committees from different chambers in the city attended. The purpose of the meeting was to update those present on the work in progress on the upcoming Bengal Global Business Summit 2017 and the role that the IT department would play. He requested those present for suggestions on how to attract IT companies to invest in the state. AMCHAM was represented by Amada Kidwai, Regional Director – Eastern Region.

4th AMCHAM Healthcare Conference – 16 September 2016

The 4th annual AmCham Healthcare Conference was held on 16th September in Hyderabad. The overall objective of the conference, as outlined by one of the key speakers, was to be a catalyst for change in the Indian healthcare ecosystem. In the same context, the theme of conference was ‘Harmonization of Indian Healthcare Within the Global Ecosystem.’ There were three panels, global harmonization, healthcare innovation and technology and skill development. To set the stage, the keynote speakers addressed the gaps and opportunities in Indian healthcare; each one of them highlighting the problems of access, affordability and quality and proposed solutions around the same; including existing solutions. It also highlighted some of the key learnings, not only from the West but from some of the lesser developed nations.

The panel on global harmonization focused on the role of standardization in solving the problems of access including last mile healthcare delivery. Standards for harmonization should be all inclusive and continually focus on innovation. We need to address some of the bottlenecks preventing medical technology reaching the end customer for whom it is intended. The panel also focused on the role of medical devices and the impact of regulation. Safety, clinical efficacy and affordability are equally important while deciding on any regulations. Healthcare standards should be made at a global level, flowing down to nations for reforms and adoption.

The panel on innovation and technology focused on current innovations in the healthcare landscape and their role in addressing some of the key challenges. It was also brought to light that some of these innovations should address problems at a larger scale, focus on smaller towns and sustainability. At the same time, the government could play a significant role in helping some of these business models reach the larger market. Technology should be both an enabler and a solution provider in healthcare innovation landscape. Innovation should focus on the acuity of need; in the Indian context problems such as anemia, malnutrition and some others are far more pronounced than others which current models in the market might be solving. As was rightly pointed out during the discussion, a better approach would be to identify problems and create innovative solutions rather than the other way round. Government could also play a key role in the same.

The last panel on skills development focused on the limitations of our current education system which may not be rightly positioned for skill development. Given the pervasive nature of the industry and woefully inadequate manpower resources, a radical suggestion emerged where every organization should mandatorily have healthcare related subject. It was also suggested that skilling can be a good enabler to solve the problem of healthcare access; case in point being high infant mortality. Training courses for midwives which is being initiated by some of the institutions could help solve this problem. It was highlighted that in terms of skill development, we could learn a lot from some of the African countries which have taken unique initiatives to solve similar problems; for instance, ‘ultrasound training program for midwives’ in Nigeria or NICU training for high school girls in South Africa.

The panel discussed about some of the major changes in mind-set required at all levels in our country. Our dependence on starting something new should not rely on support provided by the government. It is important to change our attitude towards skilling. Skill development should be equally rewarding to the person who undergoes training. Finally, in the light of global harmonization, the panel also discussed about creating a mutually rewarding ecosystem for Indian and international providers and universities in skill development.

National Executive Board Meeting – 16th September 2016

The third meeting of the National Executive Board of AmCham for the year 2016-17, under the chairmanship of Mr. Pratyush Kumar, President, Boeing India, was held on 16th September 2016 in Hyderabad.

Mr. John McCaslin, Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs and Mr. George Sibley, Minister Counselor for Economic, Environment, Science and Technology Affairs, U.S. Embassy, briefed members post the U.S.-India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue held on 30th August 2016 in New Delhi. 

Mr. Rampraveen Swaminathan, Chairman, AmCham’s Manufacturing Committee, and Chairman & Managing Director, International Paper APPM Ltd., made a presentation highlighting the committee’s vision and objectives, broad focus areas/themes, and work plan for 2016-17, etc.

Mr. Sanjiv Navangul, Chairman, AmCham’s Pharmaceuticals Committee, and Managing Director – Janssen India, Johnson & Johnson Pvt. Ltd., also made a presentation highlighting the market landscape characterized by challenges around government investments, regulatory, pricing and intellectual property; government’s multi-pronged approach to propel pharma sector growth; committee’s focus areas and key activities; issues faced and possible solutions, etc.

Meeting with Mr. K.T. Rama Rao, Minister, Telangana Government – 15th September 2016

On the eve of AmCham’s National Executive Board meeting, members of the Board and members of the Hyderabad Executive Committee met with Mr. K.T. Rama Rao, Minister for IT, Municipal Administration & Urban Development, Industries & Commerce, Public Enterprises, Sugar, Mines & Geology, NRI Affairs, Government of Telangana and his team for an interactive session on 15th September 2016 at T-Hub, Hyderabad.

Mr. K.T. Rama Rao explained the reforms introduced by the Government of Telangana to attract foreign direct investment and for ‘ease of doing business.’ He also spoke about his visit to the U.S. and the interest American companies have for investing in Telangana.