AMCHAM’s Agriculture & Food Processing Committee organized its first (hybrid) meeting for the year 2023-24 on June 28th, 2023 at the FMC Office, Gurugram. Ms. Komple Sharma, Director, AMCHAM, welcomed participants and gave an overview of the committee’s initiatives undertaken in the last year. Mr. Prashant Peres, Chairman – Agriculture & Food Processing Committee, AMCHAM and Managing Director – South Asia, Kellogg’s and Mr. Raju Kapoor, Co-Chairman – Agriculture & Food Processing Committee, AMCHAM and Director – Public & Industry Affairs, FMC India Pvt. Ltd. gave opening remarks. They shared the committee’s thrust areas which included – sustainability, supply chain resilience, AgTech, etc.

Dr. Ashok Dalwai, CEO, National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India and Chairman, Committee on Doubling of Farmers’ Income, gave a special address. He talked about India having more mature food systems in the near future that would ensure sustainability, affordability and accessibility. Communication to consumers or awareness should also be taken into consideration, private sector should communicate to consumers about eating for health and wellness. He spoke about the importance of incremental growth in productivity and how the future of agriculture should diversify. Aspects like nutritional value, economic returns to farmers and ecological concerns should be taken into consideration. While speaking about food systems, he focussed on the dire need of having a robust distribution system especially in the perishable sector. He touched upon the positive outcomes from policy intervention like promoting FPOs, ONDC platform, results of Atmanirbhar Bharat, etc. With processing still at a nascent stage in India, he urged members to venture into agro-processing that involves both food and non-food sectors. Dr. Dalwai also spoke about the role of technology and how it will uplift the Indian agricultural space. He requested companies to focus on reducing wastage and investing in technology that will help in reducing food wastage. The committee also thanked and felicitated Mr. Ronald Verdonk, Minister Counselor for Agricultural Affairs, U.S. Embassy for his support and guidance to the committee during his tenure in India. The meeting concluded with a vote of thanks to Dr. Ashok Dalwai, Mr. Ronald Verdonk and members.

AMCHAM’s Defense Committee met on June 27th in New Delhi. Ms. Udaya Arun, Director, AMCHAM welcomed the new committee leadership for 2023-2024:  Mr. Alain Garcia, Chairman – Defense Committee, AMCHAM and Vice President, Global Business Development – India, Boeing Defense, Space and Security, The Boeing Company Mr. William L. Blair, Co-Chairman – Defense Committee, AMCHAM and Vice President and Regional Executive Asia & India Lockheed Martin, Mr. Samit Ray, Co-Chairman – Defense Committee, AMCHAM and Regional Director Government Affairs & Public Policy, Raytheon Technologies Corporation and Mr. Gaurav Mehndiratta, Co-Chairman – Defense Committee, AMCHAM and Partner and Head – Aerospace & Defence, KPMG India. Ms. Arun briefly summarized an update on the recently concluded AMCHAM annual door knock to Washington DC. The delegation met with 18 offices and 8 Senators and Representatives (or their staff) just prior to the state visit of PM Modi to the U.S. The group deliberated on the positives and expected challenges from the recently concluded state visit of PM Modi. Discussions covered status of the Industrial Security Annex (ISA) in India, how to take forward the points on exchange rate variables, updates on deliverables under iCET and the creation of a capability deck on aerospace and defense for U.S companies in India. The next committee meeting was planned for end July.

Following a meeting with Mr. Alok Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Power, Government of India, AMCHAM organized a meeting on June 27^th  with energy sector  members to finalize two pilot projects on the subject of ‘Accelerating the Transition to a Clean Energy Future.’ The meeting was held at the office of Fluor Daniel in Gurugram.

AMCHAM India organized a meeting on June 26^th with Mr. Neeraj Sinha, Sr. Advisor (S&T), Niti Aayog, Government of India and his team to discuss the government’s vision on data centre policy and investment opportunities in data centres in India. On behalf of AMCHAM, the meeting was attended by Mr. Anand Vijay Jha, Managing Director – Government Relations, Blackstone Advisors India, Ms. Anita Kumar, Public Affairs & Strategic Engagements, Cisco Systems India, Mr. Vivek Dahiya, Managing Director & Head – Data Centre Advisory Team, Asia Pacific, Cushman and Wakefield, Mr. Dipanjan Banerji, Head – Corporate Affairs, Rockwell Automation India and Ms. Geeta Poduval, Director, AMCHAM.

AMCHAM conducted a webinar on ‘India’s Leadership in Global Value Chains: IPEF Pillar II Perspective’ with members across all verticals on June 23rd with Mr. Rajesh Agrawal, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Government of India and Mr. Tapan Mazumder, Additional Secretary DGFT, Ministry of Commerce, Government of India. This event was organized as a follow up to the participation of Mr. Piyush Goyal, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, in the second Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) ministerial meeting hosted by the U.S. in Detroit in May 2023. The meeting focused on the IPEF’s Supply Chain Pillar as a key area of engagement between the U.S. and India.

Both officials gave detailed presentations covering the following:

• The objective of the framework is to promote trade and investment among the 14 partner countries to stimulate economic growth.
• The supply chain agreement negotiations have made progress and are expected to be operationalized in the next 3 to 4 months.
• The supply chain pillar includes a supply chain council, a labor rights advisory board, and an emergency system to handle supply chain crises.
• Collaboration and investment in critical sectors and key goods are highlighted to avoid overdependence and disruptions.
• The development of a seamless regional trade ecosystem through harmonization of standards and regulations is mentioned to facilitate trade and drive growth in the region.

This was the first time the Additional Secretary DGFT was addressing U.S. companies in India and he looks forward to continued interactions in future.

AMCHAM had a productive meeting with Mr. Alok Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Power, Government of India about accelerating the transition to a clean energy future on June 23^rd. Various sectors were discussed and specific areas were identified in which members could contribute and collaborate in advancing clean energy initiatives.