AMCHAM hosted a farewell get together for Captain Robert Ogden, Chief, Office of Defense Co-operation, U.S. Embassy and LCDR Jonathan Lohn, Office of Defense Co-operation, U.S. Embassy on 29th June 2018 in New Delhi. Many Defense Committee members were present to thank them for their support to AMCHAM during their posting in New Delhi and wish them the best for their future assignments.

The Hyderabad Chapter organized a session on immigration law with Deloitte at Westin Hyderabad on June 27th, 2018. Mr. Prakash Bodla, Vice Chairman – Hyderabad Chapter, AMCHAM, from UTC, welcomed the gathering and thanked Deloitte for hosting. Mr. Sethuraman Sudhakar of Deloitte Chennai, kicked off the session by running through the inbound Immigration laws, taxation, PF and the FRRO formalities. Later, Ratna and Ali touched on per diem and the taxation on the same for employees on outbound travel and what expenses can be claimed. The session concluded with a time of networking over high tea. The session concluded with a time of networking over high tea.

The committee meeting was held at the office of West Pharma in Begumpet. The group discussed at length the panelists and key speakers. The theme of the conference would be ‘Changing Landscape in Healthcare: Challenges and Opportunities.’ The conference would be held on September 28th, 2018 at Ballroom, Westin Hyderabad.

On June 26th, AMCHAM’s Eastern Region organized a farewell breakfast and interactive session followed by a fireside chat with the U.S. Consul General Craig Hall and Chairman – Eastern Region, AMCHAM, Mr. Debdas Sen on ‘U.S. – India Relations.’ Mr. Debdas Sen opened the session by speaking about the Consul General’s tenure in Kolkata and the region and asked him about his first impressions of Kolkata, his involvement with the city and its culture, and the CSR activity of the U.S. Consulate. Consul General Hall mentioned that the city and its people was one of the culturally richest and most diverse place he had been assigned to, that the warmth and affection he and his family received was unparalleled to any place he had served in.

He mentioned his interaction with the West Bengal Government was very good and always found them very helpful to work with. Apart from working with American business community he praised the work AMCHAM members were doing, not only in the region, but also pan India. He highlighted the work that the Consulate did touching upon the human rights and human trafficking that so many NGO’s were working on within the city. He spoke about the awareness programs with the LGBT community, amongst other programs, and cultural events that the U.S. Consulate was involved with. During the Q&A session he touched upon the much debated U.S. administration’s trade policy, regional conflicts and a host of varied questions.

Ms. Amada Kidwai, Regional Director – Eastern Region, AMCHAM, welcomed members and invited Mr. Gulshan Sachdev, NEB Member, AMCHAM, to give the welcome remarks. Mr. Surajit Banerjee, Mr. K.P. Sengupta and Mr. Dinesh Agarwal former Chairman – Eastern Region, AMCHAM, shared their experience of interaction with Consul General Hall. Mr. Ranjan Nandi, Executive Member – Eastern Region, gave the concluding remarks and thanked the Consul General for his support by participating in all AMCHAM’s initiatives and events in Kolkata.

The core committee of AMCHAM’s Pharmaceuticals Committee met on 22nd June 2018 in the Johnson and Johnson office in Mumbai. The meeting was chaired by Mr. Sanjiv Navangul, Chairman – Pharmaceuticals Committee, AMCHAM and Managing Director, Janssen India. The meeting was attended by Ms. Jyotsna Ghoshal, Co-Chair – Pharmaceuticals Committee, AMCHAM and Executive Director – Public Policy and Corporate Affairs, MSD and Ms. Priya Hingorani, Vice President, Janssen.

The objective of the meeting was to brainstorm the issues/agenda to be taken up through AMCHAM in the coming year. The group deliberated the need to utilize the AMCHAM platform more effectively and discussed ways to make it more active. One of the primary action items was to work on increasing membership and participation in meetings. The committee would organize a brainstorming session with a larger group of members in July.