On 16th June 2016, AmCham’s Karnataka Chapter organized a session on doing business in Karnataka and U.S. – India trade to coincide with the national executive board meeting. The chief guest and keynote speaker was Hon’ble Minister Mr. R.V. Deshpande, Minister for Large & Medium Scale Industries and Tourism, Government of Karnataka.

Other eminent speakers for the evening were by Dr. Pradip K. Dutta, Chairman – Karnataka Chapter, AmCham and Corporate Vice President & Managing Director Synopsys (India) Private Limited, Mr. Pratyush Kumar Chairman, AmCham, and President, Boeing India, and Mr. John M. McCaslin, Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs, U.S. Embassy.

Mr. Philip Fracassa, Executive Vice President & CFO Timken, spoke on American companies manufacturing in Karnataka and across India. Mr. Munesh Makhija, Vice President, GE India Technology Centre & CTO-GE South Asia, spoke about infrastructure innovation for India. The session ended with closing remarks by Mr. Phillip A. Min, U.S. Consul General in Chennai. The event was attended by NEB members, industry leaders, bureaucrats and members of the local chapter.

Some of the key takeaways from the session were:

• U.S. investment has risen, especially in Karnataka, and is visible in areas such as: e-commerce, travel and tourism, defense, aerospace and clean energy

• About 300 U.S. companies have invested in Karnataka and set up their operations there due to it being a “progressive industrialized state”

• There is active participation from the AmCham Karnataka Chapter with the Government of Karnataka to get meaningful action on the ground to succeed in reaching the target of $500 billion bilateral trade

• There is need for sustainable technologies to address the government’s goals of clean power and accessible, affordable healthcare

• Bengaluru has carved out a reputation for being the world’s leading IT hub, with its robust pipeline of talent from various engineering colleges, it makes sense that all major domestic and global IT companies are based in this city