The Karnataka Chapter hosted an interactive session with Mr. Gaurav Ajmani, Chairman – Anti-Corruption & FCPA Committee, AMCHAM and Associate General Counsel, Business Conduct & Ethics, Amazon Seller Services on January 31st at the Amazon office in Bengaluru. The session focussed on vendor compliance management and third party risks which were a common problem area in effective compliance programs across sectors. The event was attended by AMCHAM member companies like HPE, KPMG, Thomson Reuters, IMA, Goldman Sachs and VF Corporation.

AMCHAM’s HR Committee met on January 30th in New Delhi with the Labour Code as the theme. Ms. Komple Sharma, Manager, AMCHAM, welcomed speakers and participants to the committee meeting. The opening remarks were delivered by Ms. Kavita Mathur, Co-Chairperson – HR Committee, AMCHAM and People & Culture Leader, Grant Thornton Advisory. It was followed by an interactive session and panel discussion on the Labour Code. The panellists were Dr. Anoop K Satpathy, Senior Faculty, V. V. Giri National Labour Institute and Mr. K.C Pandey, Consultant, Grant Thornton India LLP.

The discussion was moderated by Mr. Akhil Chandna, Director, Tax, Grant Thornton India LLP. Dr Satpathy gave a detailed presentation on the key features of the Labour Code focusing on its background and key problem areas, wage policy reforms in wage code and its likely impact. He also touched upon the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, Code on Industrial Relations and Code on Social Security. It was followed by a discussion session. Ms. Kavita Mathur expressed her gratitude to the speakers and gave the closing remarks.

On January 30th, at the American Center in New Delhi, Honorary National Executive Board Members of AMCHAM, Ms. Aileen Nandi, Minister Counselor Commercial Affairs, U.S. Embassy and Mr. Robert Garverick, Minister Counselor EEST, U.S. Embassy, briefed members on the current state of U.S.-India bilateral relations. Possible VIP visits, Indo-Pacific strategy, impact of GST on member companies, the regulatory environment , trade negotiations, data protection and IPR challenges were topics discussed.

Members were updated on the recent opening of the Development Finance Corporation (DFC), an independent agency of the U.S. Government that provides financing for private development projects. Members found the candid session beneficial and the next briefing was scheduled for March 26th.

On 29th January, as part of the Signature Lecture Series, AMCHAM organized a breakfast session on ‘Leadership Engagement at the Time of Unexpected Challenges’ with Mr. Brad Staples, Global CEO, APCO Worldwide. The session began with opening remarks by Ms. Surabhi Wahal, Regional Director – Western Region, AMCHAM India. This was followed by Mr. Sarthak Ranade, Vice Chairman – Western Region, AMCHAM and Managing Director – Janssen India, Johnson & Johnson Pvt. Ltd., who through his welcome address, set the stage and introduced the keynote speaker.

Through his keynote address Mr. Brad Staples, Global CEO, APCO Worldwide, highlighted several facets to leadership engagement at the time of unexpected challenges. He shed his expert insight on the social and geopolitical complexities of today and the need for CEOs to be equipped to respond to changes and challenges. He concluded his address by highlighting the following leadership essentials – self-awareness, confidence, an unending curiosity, emotional stability and a strong moral core. An engaging and interactive Q&A followed. The event concluded with closing remarks and a vote of thanks by Ms. Jane Ann Conway, Country Head – India, Principal Consulting (India) Pvt. Ltd.

AMCHAM’s Karnataka Chapter hosted the monthly edition of the CEO breakfast mornings on the topic of ‘Current State of CSR.’ The focus of the breakfast morning was on CSR accounting, assessments and reporting as well as challenges faced by corporates in CSR. New opportunities in the CSR domain were shared with updates on the CSR policy and models for collaboration, impact and employee engagement.

The session was moderated by Ms. Neelam Makhijani, Country Director & CEO, ChildFund India with Ms. Deepa Nagaraj, Global Head of Corporate Communications and Director Sparkle Innovation Ecosystem, Mphasis and Mr. Santhosh Jayaram, Partner and Head, Sustainability and CSR Advisory, KPMG in India. The event was attended by companies like IBM, First American, Shanti Bhavan, HPE, Christel House and others.

AMCHAM’s U.S.-India Travel & Tourism Working Group kicked off the year on January 28th in Bengaluru with an interaction on ‘Opportunities for BLeisure Tourism’ with members who have large numbers of outbound travel from India to the USA. The opportunities for incentive travel were also discussed. Attendees comprised of representatives from the U.S. Commercial Service, corporate members, tourism brands and travel services.