Interaction with USTDA Officials – 30th October 2018

AMCHAM held a thought-provoking interaction over breakfast, on the energy sector, with visiting USTDA officials led by Mr. Todd Abrajano, Senior Advisor to the Director, Mr. John Krotzer, Country Manager, South Asia, and Ms. Mehnaz Ansari, Country Representative, South Asia, at the U.S. Embassy, New Delhi on 30th October 2018. Mr. Abrajano informed participants that 50% of USTDA activity was in the energy sector and its export multiplier (ROI) was the highest in USTDA history, returning $104 for every dollar invested in USTDA activities. He highlighted the U.S. Natural Gas Export Initiative and support for related LNG import infrastructure. Ms. Ansari and Mr. Krotzer gave the background leading to the MoU between AMCHAM and CHT (MoPNG) in May ’18 for U.S. India collaboration in refining and petrochemicals. They informed members about the Global Procurement Initiative by USTDA in Houston, attended by RTM companies from India, and their appreciation of the life cycle value addition concept as opposed to the lowest cost bidder criteria. In the open interaction that followed, participants shared their insights on bio-fuels, technology for conversion of biomass to bio-crude, operational risk solutions, local procurement practices, areas of business opportunity, etc. The meeting concluded with a vote of thanks from Ms. Madhvi Kataria, Deputy Director-General, AMCHAM India.

  

Interactive Session with Ms. Kate Barton, Global Vice Chair – Tax, EY on ‘Global Tax Environment and How Technology is Disrupting Tax’– 26th October 2018

On Friday, 26th October, AMCHAM, in partnership with EY, organized an interactive session with Ms. Kate Barton, Global Vice Chair – Tax, EY on ‘Global Tax Environment and How Technology is Disrupting Tax’ in Mumbai. The session began with opening remarks by Mr. Sudhir Kapadia, Partner & National Tax Leader, EY India, who welcomed everyone and shared an introduction to the speaker, Ms. Kate Barton, Global Vice Chair – Tax, EY. Through an interactive session Ms. Kate Barton provided expert insight on U.S. tax reforms, current global environment and its effect on tax and business, moving ahead from megatrends to Tax 2.0 and putting Tax 2.0 to work in a transformative age. In the engaging Q&A participants positioned queries on robotics and automation in tax, tax block chain trends and the effect of global tax scenarios on businesses. Ms. Barton aptly closed with a quote, “Do today what will take you to tomorrow.” The event concluded with closing remarks and a vote of thanks by Mr. Vilas Vaman Dhavale, Managing Director, LORD India Pvt. Ltd. who thanked Ms. Kate Barton, EY and AMCHAM for the insightful and engaging event.

Roundtable Discussion on GST, Credit Concerns, Advance Ruling and Audit – Latest Developments, Impact Areas and Way Forward-23rd October 2018

AMCHAM’s Eastern Region, and its knowledge partner, EY, hosted a roundtable discussion on GST on 23rd October, 2018 at TCG office in Kolkata. Ms. Amada Kidwai, Regional Director – Eastern Region, AMCHAM, welcomed members and Mr. Dinesh Agarwal, former Chairman of the Eastern Region, ER Executive Committee member and Partner, EY Tax and Regulatory Service, gave opening remarks which was followed by a presentation on GST updates by Mr. Sidhartha Jain, Partner, EY and Mr. Vijay Chhangani, Director, EY.

EY updated the participants about the GST annual return, audit requirements and steps required to be followed for preparation of the annual return (GSTR 9) and GST audit (GSTR 9C), as the due date for these compliances is Dec, 2018. Various GST challenges that members face and queries generated during interactive sessions were clarified by the EY team. In the very vibrant and conducive Q&A session, members shared their experience over the past one year on the GST implementation.

The session concluded with a vote of thanks by Mr. Dinesh Agarwal, who suggested members should start working on the annual return and audit requirements, as only two months were left and the same involves a mammoth exercise of detailed state level bifurcation of financial statements and reconciliation of the same is GST returns filed so far.

 

Session on Nuances of Managing Foreign Subsidiaries in India with Sannam S4 and JSA Advocates -23rd October 2018

A session was hosted in collaboration with AMCHAM Karnataka, Indo American Chamber of Commerce and Bangalore Chamber of Commerce and Industry, by Sannam S4 and JSA Advocates, on ‘Nuances of Managing Foreign Subsidiaries in India: Key Tax, Regulatory and Labour Considerations’ on Tuesday, October 23rd, 2018 at WeWork Galaxy, Bengaluru. The event was attended by representatives from HR, finance and legal departments of Bengaluru based MNCs and was led by Mr. Micheal Green, General Manager India, Sannam S4, Mr. Abhinav Sood, Head of Client Relations and International Projects, Financial Consulting, Sannam S4, and Mr. Sajai Singh, Partner, J. Sagar Associates. From AMCHAM, Ms. Payal Satish, Regional Director – Karnataka Chapter, attended the session.

Launch of Diversity & Inclusion Committee by Consul General Edgard D. Kagan, U.S. Consulate General Mumbai – 17th October 2018

On Wednesday, 17^th October 2018, AMCHAM’s Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Committee was launched by Consul General Edgard D. Kagan, U.S. Consulate General Mumbai at the Bank of America office in Mumbai. The event began with welcome remarks by Ms. Ranjana Khanna, Director General CEO, AMCHAM, who warmly welcomed Consul General Edgard D. Kagan, his wife Ms. Cynthia Gire who was also present and the esteemed congregation of CEOs and senior D&I leaders of AMCHAM’s membership. Through her address she highlighted AMCHAM’s origin and history, the significant efforts and activities of the sectoral committees and the initiatives of AMCHAM’s Western Region. The excitement was palpable as Consul General Edgard D. Kagan officially unveiled and launched the Diversity & Inclusion Committee. In his keynote address, he brought forth the importance of fostering a workplace environment open to a broad mix of people and for leaders to understand how to get the best out of their strengths. He spoke positively of the willingness of U.S. companies to actively incorporate D&I as part of its corporate DNA and stated that the process of achieving inclusion is as important as the end result.

 Mr. Indranil Sen Gupta, Co-Head, India Research, Co-Chair, India Diversity & Inclusion Council, Bank of America, made an address and gave a presentation that highlighted how Bank of America is driving the D&I agenda with a focus on women at the workplace, supporting the differently abled and LGBT advocacy. He also spoke of D&I best practices and efforts especially in Asia. To conclude he stated that he was reminded of a quote by Helen Keller, “The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” Ms. Surabhi Wahal, Regional Director – Western Region, AMCHAM, shared insight into the architecture, mission, scope, pillars of the committee (gender diversity – focus on advancing women, disability and LGBTQ) and the roadmap for the future. She further went on to invite the esteemed panel of speakers for the next segment of the evening – the fireside chat. The panel comprised of Consul General Edgard D. Kagan, Mr. Sanjiv Navangul, Chairman – Pharma Committee, AMCHAM and Managing Director – Janssen India, Johnson & Johnson Pvt. Ltd. and Mr. Ramkumar Ramamoorthy, Chairman – HR Committee, AMCHAM and Executive Director – India, Cognizant Technology Solutions with moderator Mr. Mahesh Krishnamurti, Chairman – Western Region, AMCHAM and Managing Director, RGP India.

 Mr. Krishnamurti ushered in the discussion by stating the need to nip micro regressions in the bud before they lead to macro regressions. During the fireside chat, Consul General Kagan spoke on his impression of how D&I is catching up in India compared to other APAC countries. Mr. Sanjiv Navangul spoke on the high value that Johnson & Johnson places on creating an inclusive workplace, their program on ‘unconscious bias’ to inculcate sensitivity among its employees, and the initiative of a daycare at the office to ensure women come back to work post child birth. Mr. Ramamoorthy spoke on the importance of integrating the strengths and capabilities of differently abled employees within the organization and the efforts therein undertaken at Cognizant Technology Solutions. He also spoke on the imperativeness of consciously involving employees across different age groups in the growth story of an organization. The interactive Q&A that followed brought forth a discussion on the need to succeed in creating not only a diverse demographic but to ensure that organizations have an inclusive mindset. The discussion also raised questions on measuring the success of D&I. Mr. Krishnamurti closed the fireside chat with a quote by Malcolm Forbes, “Diversity is the art of thinking independently together.”

 Ms. Kaku Nakhate, Vice Chairperson, AMCHAM, Chairperson – D&I Committee, AMCHAM, President & Country Head (India), Bank of America N.A., through her closing remarks once again highlighted the mission and the roadmap of AMCHAM’s D&I Committee and urged CEOs and D&I leaders of member companies to actively participate and percolate the initiatives of the committee and to promote creative conversations within the corporate community. She shared that the committee plans to meet on a quarterly basis and aims to hold a national event on completion of the 1^st year of committee. She concluded by thanking Consul General Edgard D. Kagan, the esteemed speakers and participants for joining on the occasion of the launch event.

     

Roundtable with Ambassador Robert Blake Jr., Senior Director, India & South Asia, McLarty Associates – 15th October 2018

On October 15th, 2018, AMCHAM organized a roundtable with Ambassador Robert Blake Jr., Senior Director, India & South Asia, McLarty Associates, in New Delhi. In his opening remarks, Mr. Michael Koch, Chairman – Defense Committee, AMCHAM and Vice President, Boeing India Defense, Space & Security, gave an overview of the business environment in India. Ambassador Blake (previously Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia at the State Department and Ambassador to Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Indonesia) gave an insightful and candid view from Washington DC on the upcoming U.S. elections and issues of importance in the U.S. – India relationship, such as CATSAA, trade strategies, Indo – Pacific cooperation and tariffs on steel and aluminium, among others. Ambassador Blake emphasized the goodwill that Indian American members of Congress have generated on Capitol Hill over the years. Closing remarks were made by Ms. Ranjana Khanna, Director General CEO, AMCHAM. The session was hosted at the Boeing office.