On March 26th, AMCHAM’s Honorary National Executive Board Members, Ms. Aileen Nandi, Minister Counselor Commercial Affairs, U.S. Embassy and Mr. Robert Garverick, Minister Counselor EEST, U.S. Embassy, briefed members amidst concerns arising out of the outbreak of COVID-19 and the ensuing governmental lockdown over a conference call. More than 40 members participated in call. Ms. Ranjana Khanna, Director General CEO, AMCHAM, introduced both speakers. Post their opening remarks, the participants raised issues and sought clarifications and interventions to their present challenges related to COVID-19 ranging from exemptions from lockdowns and temporary closures based on essential business services.

Ms. Aileen Nandi, in response to a question raised about employees being stranded in the U.S. with their visa/permits running out, encouraged them to check out U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for more details. Mr. Rob Garverick encouraged all U.S. citizens to sign up for Smart Traveler Enrolment Program (STEP), a free service that allows U.S. citizens traveling abroad to enroll with the local U.S. Embassy or Consulate to get regular security updates. The USG update on the COVID-19 situation and any impact they perceive from a trade perspective, with focus on overall economy, particularly life sciences, pharma sector, banking and financial services, supply chain and transportation, was also discussed. It was proposed to set up similar conference calls for all regions with the U.S. Consulates so that issues could be addressed locally quickly.

On 20th March, AMCHAM’s Supply Chain & Logistics Committee organized a session on ‘SC&L Best Practices Relating to COVID-19 Response’ via concall. The call began with brief opening remarks by Ms. Surabhi Wahal, Regional Director – Western Region, AMCHAM. Mr. Kumar Kandaswami, Chairman – Supply Chain & Logistics Committee, AMCHAM and Partner, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP, set the tone for the discussion through his welcome address.

AMCHAM’s CSR Committee held a committee meeting on March 20th through Webex. Mr. Harish Krishnan, Chairman – CSR Committee, AMCHAM and Managing Director, Public Affairs & Strategic Engagements, Cisco India & SAARC, Cisco Systems (India), welcomed participants and encouraged members during these abnormal times. He mentioned the Prime Minister’s crowd sourcing for fixes regarding COVID-19 and asked companies to send in their suggestions. Ms. Kshitija Krishnaswamy, Co-Chairperson – CSR Committee, AMCHAM and Director, Corporate Citizenship, Accenture India, emphasized that companies need to stay in communication with one another as CSR programs will get greatly affected during this time. Ms. Sangita Ghalay, Co-Chairperson – CSR Committee, AMCHAM and Head – CSR, Honeywell India, asked members to send their inputs on the new CSR policy amendment rules so that AMCHAM can make a collective representation to the government.

The meeting explored how American companies can help with CSR initiatives to mitigate impact of COVID-19. USAID talked about the need to spread awareness on the virus at the workplace. The U.S. government has made the virus a priority and they would soon share specific ways that members can partner with civil society and government to combat COVID-19. It became evident that there are limited NGOs working specifically on COVID-19 and that AMCHAM would help gather info about it.

Mr. Jay Badola, Partner, Dua Associates and Mr. Akash Nath, Partner, Dua Associates, answered questions on the Draft Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Amendment Rules, 2020, which were open for comment through March 28th. Members recommended the reinstatement of trusts and societies for accepting CSR funds. The Q&A also addressed the disclosure of CSR policy and committee members on company websites, whether any long-term, multi-year program need to be truncated and the removal of “contribution to corpus,” among other topics. Mr. Harish Krishnan, in his closing comments, thanked Dua Associates for their expert insights and mentioned, while the date for the annual CSR Conference was unknown, it would surely take place later in the year.

On March 18th, a concall was held with Mr. Sarthak Ranade, Vice Chairman – Western Region, AMCHAM and Managing Director – Janssen India, Johnson & Johnson to share an overview and of the meeting of the Maharashtra Health Secretary with corporates and healthcare sector that took place on March 17th. The session was attended by members of AMCHAM’s Western Region Committee and their teams.

In Kolkata on March 11th, AMCHAM’s Eastern Region, in partnership with the Hyatt Regency, organized a panel discussion on #EachforEqual – An Equal World for an Enabled World, which included diversity and inclusiveness. The event was graced by eminent personalities from all walks of life who shared their experience in their journey to success.

AMCHAM’s Karnataka Chapter organized an interaction with the visiting business honors students from the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business, Utah on March 5th. Mr. Sanjay Mujoo, Vice President, Pointnext Services Global Delivery Center – Hewlett Packard Enterprise, interacted with students and gave them a brief on how the tech sector in India has evolved especially in Karnataka, where Hewlett Packard is now in their contribution to technology development and where they are headed. The conversation touched upon some of the challenges faced by the society and how industry is able to generate demand for tech sector innovation and offerings. The event was very well received by the students, most of whom were in India for the first time.