AMCHAM Update...Development, Boeing and Mr. Arijit Ghosh, NEB Member, AMCHAM and President &...

January & March 2018 | Vol VI | Issue 4 & 5AMCHAM - The Voice of American Business in India

• MeetingwithMr.SanjayMitra,DefenceSecretary,MinistryofDefence

• Interactive Session with Mr. Robert L. Strayer, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Cyber and InternationalCommunicationandInformationPolicy,U.S.DepartmentofState

• SmartCitiesandInfrastructureSummit2017

• AnnualChristmasBall2017

• NationalExecutiveBoardMembersMeetingwiththeHon’bleCMofMaharashtra,Mr.DevendraFadnavisandSeniorMemberoftheStateGovernmentofMaharashtra

• AnnualDay2018

• AMCHAMsupportedtheBengalGlobalBusinessSummit2018

• InteractionwithAmbassadorAliceWells,AssistantSecretary,BureauofSouthandCentralAsiaAffairs,U.S.DepartmentofState

• WesternRegionSignatureEvent-India:2018andBeyond

• KarnatakaChapterSignatureEvent-TheIndo-U.S.Partnership

HIGHLIGHTS

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Contents10

Interaction with Mr. Ramesh Abhishek,Secretary,DIPP

12InteractionwithSecretaryRexTillerson,U.S.DepartmentofState

16Roundtable Interaction with Ms. JennaDaughertyon‘AddressingGlobalHealthIssuesbyCreatingSocialValueThroughBusinessExpertise:HelpingPeopleLiveHealthier,FullerLives’

23FutureofWorkConference–Hyderabad

28AMCHAM-Timken Invitational GolfTournament2017

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NATIONAL EXECUTIVE BOARD 2017-18

Office Bearers

Chairman

Mr. Pratyush Kumar President Boeing India

Vice Chairmen

Mr. Arun M. Kumar Chairman and CEO KPMG in India

Mr. Gulshan Kumar Sachdev Managing Director Quaker Chemical India Limited

Hon. Secretary & Treasurer

Mr. Atul Dhawan Partner Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP

Board Members

Ms. Rekha M. Menon Chairman and Senior Managing Director Accenture Services Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. T. Krishnakumar President – Coca Cola India & South West Asia Coca-Cola India Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. V. Laxmikanth Managing Director Broadridge Financial Solutions (India) Private Limited

Mr. Arun Kumar Jain Managing Director Fluor Daniel India Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. Paresh Shah Senior Vice President & General Manager - India Syniverse Technologies Services India Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. Debdas Sen CEO TCG Digital Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. Krish Iyer President and CEO Wal-Mart India Pvt. Ltd.

Dr. Kiranmai Pendyala CVP HR Greater Asia AMD R&D Center India Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. Mahesh Krishnamurti Managing Director RGP India Private Limited

Mr. V. Laxmikanth Manging Director Broadridge Financial Solutions

Mr. Phil Shaw Chief Executive - India Lockheed Martin India Private Limited

Mr. Iqbal Sait Head of Asia Operations Saggezza Inc.

Mr. Rajan Aiyer Managing Director - GM, SAARC Region Trimble Information Technologies India Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. Ramkumar Ramamoorthy Senior Vice President, Marketing, Corporate Affairs and Communications Cognizant Technology Solutions

Mr. Arijit Ghosh President & Managing Director Textron India Pvt. Ltd.

Ms. Kaku Nakhate President & Country Head (India) Bank of America N.A.

Ms. Vanitha Narayanan Chairman IBM India Pvt. Ltd.

Honorary Members

Mr. Robert Garverick Minister Counselor for Economic Affairs Science and Technology U.S. Embassy

Mr. Patrick Santillo Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs U.S. Embassy

Special Invitee

Mr. C. R. Dua Chairman Dua Associates

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EventsAMCHAM

Issue 4 & 5January & March 2018

U.S.-India Subnational Energy Workshop in partnership with CSIS

DELHI

AMCHAM supported the Center for Strategic andInternational Studies (CSIS) for the ‘U.S. – IndiaSubnational Energy Workshop’ held on Thursday, 2ndNovember2017inNewDelhi.TheworkshopwasafirstofitskindsubnationalenergydialoguebetweentheUnitedStates and India. During this workshop states cametogetheranddiscussedhowtheycanreadythemselvestodevelopagridofthefuture.

Thefirstsessionofworkshopwason‘PoweringtheGridoftheFuture:KeyTechnologies’andopeningremarksweremadebyMr.KartikeyaSingh,DeputyDirectorandFellow,WadhwaniChairinU.S.–IndiaPolicyStudies,CSISandhe introduced speakers for the session, Mr. KrishanDhawan, CEO, Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation,Mr.AjayMisra,PrincipalSecretary,DepartmentofPower,Government of Telangana, Ms. Jane Epperson, SeniorEnergyPolicySpecialist,DivisionofEnergy,Governmentof Missouri, andMr. B.B. Mehta, Chief Engineer, StateLoad Dispatch Center, Government of Gujarat. Otherspeakers were Mr. Mashal Dhawan, Chief MarketingOfficer,SmartEnergyWater,Mr.OwenZinaman,NationalRenewable Energy Laboratory and Mr. Paul Cark,Senior Advisor, International Programs, National RuralElectricCooperativesAssociation(NRECA).Thesessionfocusedontheexperienceofkeystakeholdersandtheirperspectives in trying todeploy thekey technologies instateswhichstandoutascritical for thecreationof thenew grid, decentralized and large grid-tied renewableenergy, smart power technologies, and energy storagetechnologies. State representatives also shared theirinsightoncomplexissuesandchallengeswhichtheyarecurrentlyfacingintheenergysector.

StateenergyrepresentativesfromvariousU.S.statesduringthe'U.S.-IndiaSubnationalEnergyWorkshop'

Mr.AnandKumar,Secretary,MinistryofNewandRenewableEnergy, GOI, speaking at CSIS's first ever 'U.S. - IndiaSubnationalEnergyWorkshop'

The second session started with a discussion on

managingthegridofthefuturewithrepresentativesfrom

states including Mr. Anand Kumar, Secretary, Ministry

of New and Renewable Energy, GOI, Ms. Sangeeta

Singh,DirectorUPNEDA,GovernmentofUttarPradesh,

Mr. Robert Jackson, Director, Michigan Agency for

Energy, Government of Michigan, Dr. M. Saikumar,

Chief Managing Director, TANGEDCO, Government of

Tamil Nadu, Mr. Ken Curry, Vice President, Customer

& Corporate Services, Nebraska Public Power District,

Mr. Praveer Sinha, CEO and Managing Director, Tata

PowerDelhiDistributionLimited,Mr.FredWalti,Founder,

Los Angeles Clean Tech Incubator and Ms. Rebecca

Kiernan, Senior ResilienceOffice, City of Pittsburgh. In

thissession,thefocusofdiscussionwastounderstand

the role of various stakeholders in designing new

collaborativeframeworktosupporttechnologyinnovation

anddiffusioninadditiontosupportingexistinginstitutions

whichare struggling tomanage the transition to agrid

of the future. The workshop concluded with vote of

thanksfromMr.RichardM.Rossow,SeniorAdvisorand

WadhwaniChair inU.S.-India Policy Studies,CSIS and

followedbyanetworkingdinner.

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(L-R)Mr.RameshChand,Member(Agri),NitiAayog,Mr.TedMcKinney,UnderSecretaryforTradeandForeignAgriculturalAffairs,USDA,Mr.MukeshAghi,President,USISPFandMs.RanjanaKhanna,DirectorGeneralCEO,AMCHAM

(L-R)Mr.MukeshAghi,President,USISPF,Mr.TedMcKinney,Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs,U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Ms. RanjanaKhanna,DirectorGeneralCEO,AMCHAM

AMCHAM-USISPF Roundtable Discussion with Under Secretary, Mr. Ted McKinney, U.S. Department of Agriculture

A roundtable was organized with Under Secretary,Mr.TedMcKinney,U.S.DepartmentofAgriculture,alongwithUSISPFon3rdNovember2017.Mr.RameshChand,Member, NITI Aayog, Mr. P K Swain, Joint Secretary,MinistryofAgriculture,GOI,Mr.ScottSindelar,MinisterCounselor for Agricultural Affairs, U.S. Embassy andMs. Marianne McElroy, Assistant Deputy Administrator,Foreign Agricultural Service, Office of Trade Programs,USDA,werealsopresent.

Duringwelcome remarks,AMCHAMstressed the needforbuildingpartnershipsandsharedthewholerangeofmember companyengagement in agriculture and foodsector,supplychains,ecosystemsandR&D forseedsandcropprotection,etc.

The India Government, in consultation with states, isrollingouttheContractFarmingActwithreformslikedirectsalebyfarmerstoconsumersandprivateplayers,singletrade license and single point levy of taxes expandingthe scopeof doingbusiness.Scalingof the e-NationalAgricultureMarketonpanIndiabasiswasemphasized.The Government of India representatives shared thefinancialincentivesofferedinargi-processingparksandcold chain/value chains. It was suggested a working

group be constituted under the trade policy forum toaddressallagri-relatedissues.

Itwasproposedtohaveworking integratedsolutions inIndia utilizing the latestU.S. technology for the farmingcommunityandfoodprocessingindustry,introductionofhighyieldingvarieties,andimpartingtrainingtofarmersto improveskillsandknowledge.Thiswould lead toanincreaseinagricultureproductivityandfarmer’sincome.

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Meeting with Invest India Representatives

Ms.RanjanaKhanna,DirectorGeneralCEO,AMCHAMIndia,andMs.MadhviKataria,DeputyDirectorGeneral,AMCHAMIndia,metwithrepresentativesofInvestIndiaintheirofficeonNovember14th,2017todiscussorganizingroundtablesonspecificsectors. Itwasagreedbetween

Invest India and AMCHAM that the first roundtablewouldbeontheICTsectorsometimeduringthemonthof February 2018 followed by another roundtable onhealthcareandmedicaldevices.

Meeting with Mr. Rajiv Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, DIPP

Ms.RanjanaKhanna,DirectorGeneralCEO,AMCHAMIndia,andMs.MadhviKataria,DeputyDirectorGeneral,AMCHAM India, met with Mr. Rajiv Aggarwal, JointSecretary,DepartmentofIndustrialPolicyandPromotion,

onNovember14th,2017inhisofficetodiscussfollow-upregarding issues sent by AMCHAMmembers during ameetingwithSecretary,DIPP.

Meeting with Mr. Apurva Chandra, Additional Secretary Defence Production, Ministry of Defence

AMCHAM met the Additional Secretary DefenceProduction, Mr. Apurva Chandra on 15th November2017attheMinistryofDefence.Mr.PhilShaw,Chairman– Defense Committee, AMCHAM and Chief Executive,LockheedMartinIndia,Mr.MichaelKoch,Co-Chairman– Defense Committee, AMCHAM and Vice President –SouthAsia,InternationalBusinessDevelopment,Boeingand Mr. Gaurav Mendiratta, Co-Chairman – DefenseCommittee,AMCHAMandPartner,InternationalTaxandRegulatoryServices,India,KPMGalongwithMs.Ranjana

Khanna,DirectorGeneralCEO,AMCHAMwerepresentwithafewothermembersoftheDefenseCommittee.

MembersproposedideastohelptoincreaseintheeaseofdoingbusinessinIndia.ItwasrecommendedthattheMoDshould relookat thestandardcontract to facilitateeasy implementation and introduce a web enabledplatformforeffectivemonitoringoftheoffsetmanagementandimplementationoftimeboundauditprocess.

Meeting with Mr. Sanjay Mitra, Defence Secretary, Ministry of Defence

Mr.PhilShaw,Chairman–DefenseCommittee,AMCHAMandChiefExecutive,LockheedMartinIndia,Mr.MichaelKoch, Co-Chairman – Defense Committee, AMCHAMandVicePresident–SouthAsia, InternationalBusinessDevelopment,BoeingandMr.ArijitGhosh,NEBMember,

AMCHAM and President & Managing Director, TextronIndiaalongwithMs.RanjanaKhanna,DirectorGeneralCEO,AMCHAMhadtheprivilegetomeetwithMr.SanjayMitra,DefenceSecretary,MinistryofDefence.

Defense Committee Meeting

On 16th November 2017, the Defense Committee metattheLockheedMartinIndiaoffice.ThememberswerebriefedbyMr.PhilShaw,Chairman–DefenseCommittee,AMCHAMandChief Executive, LockheedMartin India,onthemeetingwithMr.SanjayMitra,DefenceSecretary,MinistryofDefenceandMr.ApurvaChandra,AdditionalSecretaryDefenceProduction,MinistryofDefence.

TheCommitteediscussedstrategicpartnerships,offsetsandhowtoincreasetheeaseofdoingbusinessindetail.TheCommitteewelcomedMr.RobertGarverick,MinisterCounselorforEconomicAffairsScienceandTechnology,U.S. Embassy and discussed its participation in theDefExpowhich isbeingorganizedbyMoD inFebruary2018inGoa.

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Meeting with Dr. Ajay Kumar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY)

Ms.RanjanaKhanna,DirectorGeneralCEO,AMCHAMIndia, along with Mr. Arijit Sen, Co-Chairman – CyberSecurityCommittee,AMCHAMandMr.AmbrishBakaya,Director Corporate Affairs, HPE India, attended themeeting hosted by MeitY on 20th November, 2017 tohaveadiscussionon inputssubmittedbystakeholders

ontheDraftNotificationonPublicProcurementofCyberSecurityproducts.Dr.AjayKumar,AdditionalSecretary,MeitY,saidthatthiswasthefirstroundofinteractionandall stakeholders are welcomed to submit their furthersuggestions/inputsrelatedtothepolicytoMeitY.

Briefing on the U.S.-India Trade Policy Forum & Commercial Dialogue with Mr. Robert Garverick, Minister Counselor for Economic, Environment, Science and Technology Affairs and Mr. Patrick Santillo, Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs, U.S. Embassy

AMCHAM organized a briefing with U.S. Embassyofficialson21stNovemberattheAmericanCenter,NewDelhi,on theoutcomesof theU.S.– IndiaTradePolicyForum and the U.S. – India Commercial Dialogue thattook place at the end of October in Washington D.C.Ms.RanjanaKhanna,DirectorGeneralCEO,AMCHAM,made opening remarks and introduced the speakersfromtheembassywhoalsoserveashonorarymembersofAMCHAM’sNationalExecutiveBoard.

Mr.RobertGarverick,MinisterCounselor forEconomic,Environment, Science and Technology Affairs, U.S.Embassy, summarized the U.S. – India Trade PolicyForum which was co-chaired by United States Trade

Representative,AmbassadorRobertLighthizerandIndianMinisterofCommerceandIndustry,Mr.SureshPrabhu.Mr.Garverickemphasizedhisdesire to learnabout thebusinessenvironmentandhowIndiahasgreatpotentialforevenmoreU.S.investment.HetalkedabouttheU.S.administration’s emphasis on free, fair and reciprocaltrade. Some of the topics discussed included marketaccess,IPprotection,standardsandtradefacilitationatcustoms.

Mr. Patrick Santillo, Minister Counselor for CommercialAffairs, U.S. Embassy, mentioned that formal G2Gdialogues are conducive to information sharing andemphasized the fact that the commercial dialogue

(L-R) Mr. James Brandt, Managing Director, Lowes India,Mr. Arijit Ghosh, NEB Member, AMCHAM and President& Managing Director, Textron India, Mr. Naveen Tandon,Co-Chairman - ICT Committee, AMCHAM and Director -InternationalExternalAffairs,AT&TCommunicationServicesIndiaandMr.RakeshSwami,VicePresidentCorporateAffairs,GEIndia,atabriefingwithembassyofficialsinNewDelhi

(L-R)Ms.RanjanaKhanna,DirectorGeneralCEO,AMCHAM,Mr. Rob Garverick, Minister Counselor for Economic,Environment,ScienceandTechnologyAffairs,U.S.Embassy,Mr.PatrickSantillo,MinisterCounselorforCommercialAffairs,U.S. Embassy, and Mr. Phil Shaw, Chairman – DefenseCommitteeandNEBMember,AMCHAMandChiefExecutive,LockheedMartinIndia,atabriefingontheU.S.- IndiaTradePolicyForumandCommercialDialogue

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(now separated from the strategic dialogue) can havea more focused intent. The three workstreams for thecommercial dialogue include standards, businessclimateandtourism.Therewouldbeseriesofworkshopsonstandardsthatfocusonwaterandenvironment,smartandsustainable cites, andcleanenergy.Hediscussedthe need to reconstitute the U.S. – India CEO Forum.Mr. Santillo also encouraged AMCHAM members toutilizetheConsulGeneralsintheU.S.Consulates.

An interactive Q&A followed which was moderated byMr.PhilShaw,Chairman–DefenseCommitteeandNEBMember,AMCHAMandChiefExecutive,LockheedMartinIndia.Someofthetopicsdiscussedincludedagriculture,IPenforcement,retail, imports,publicprocurement,andprice controls, among others. Mr. Shaw thanked thespeakersfortheirtimeandthankedAMCHAMmembersfortheirparticipation.

Interactive Session with Mr. Robert L. Strayer, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Cyber and International Communication and Information Policy, U.S. Department of State

Members of AMCHAM’s ICT and Cyber SecurityCommittees met with Mr. Robert L. Strayer, DeputyAssistant Secretary for Cyber and InternationalCommunicationandInformationPolicy,U.S.Departmentof State, for an interactive session on ICT and cybersecurity issuesonNovember22nd,2017 inNewDelhi.The meeting was chaired by the Chairman of the ICTCommittee,Mr. Amit Sharma, Executive Vice PresidentandPresidentAsia,ATCIndia.TheChairmanoftheCyberSecurityCommittee,Mr.DeepakMaheshwari,Director–GovernmentAffairs,India&ASEAN,SymantecSoftware

SolutionsPvt.Ltd.,wasalsopresent.

Mr. Strayer sought inputs from the members on ICTand cyber security which he could discuss with theGovernmentofIndia.HealsosaidthattheseinputswouldbeusefulforthenextICTdialoguewhichwouldbeheldsome time inJanuary2018. Issues raisedbymembersconcerneddelays in announcingpoliciesby the Indiangovernment, data protection, PMA, procurementguidelines, security testing and public procurement incybersecurityproducts.

ICT Committee Meeting

Ameeting of AMCHAM’s ICT Committee was held onNovember 22nd, 2017 in New Delhi. Themeeting waschaired by the Chairman of the Committee, Mr. AmitSharma, Executive Vice President and President Asia,ATCIndia.MembersdiscussedissuesrelatingtothenewTelecomPolicyexpectedtobeannouncedin2018,M2Mand cloud, telecom and IT products testing, and dataprivacy. Going forward, it was decided that AMCHAMwouldorganize a roundtablediscussionwithDIPPandInvestIndiaonICTsometimeduringtheendofJanuary/beginningFebruary2018.Memberswillbesendingtheir

inputsinadvancesothatthesamecouldbeforwardedto DIPP and Invest India for review and involve otherconcerned departments. Some of themajor issues onwhich notes were requested from members were (i)regulatory issues, (ii)publicprocurementandPMA, (iii)easeofdoingbusiness,(iv)standardsandtesting,(v)lighttouchpolicies,and(vi)integrationoffuturetechnologies.A roundtable with DIPP on specific company relatedissuesintheICTsectorwouldalsoformpartoftheICTCommittee’sprogram.

Manufacturing Committee and Supply Chain and Logistics Committee Joint Meeting

The second meeting of AMCHAM’s ManufacturingCommitteeunder the chairmanshipofMr.SanjayKoul,Chairman & Managing Director, Timken India Limited

wasajointmeetingwiththeSupplyChainandLogisticsCommittee under the chairmanship of Mr. SrinivasanSarangapani, Director Operations, Timken Engineering

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MembersoftheManufacturingCommitteeandSupplyChainandLogisticsCommittee

and Research India, held on 27th November at theMadrasCricketClubinChennai.Mr.IqbalSait,Chairman–KarnatakaChapter,AMCHAM,hostedthemeeting.

Thecommitteesdiscussedplansforajointeventattheend of February that would feature senior governmentrepresentatives and a couple panel discussions withpossibletopicssuchasDGFTorFCPA.

The committeemeetingwas followed by an interactionwithMr.AtulyaMisra,IAS,PrincipalSecretary,Industries

Department so itwasdecided to take up the followingpoints with the Government of Tamil Nadu: clarity onthe revised process for disbursing the incentives (asperMOU)under theGSTregime,TamilNaduBusinessFacilitation Act and single window clearance, PollutionControl Board support and infrastructure relatedchallenges.TheManufacturingCommitteealsodecidedtosetupmonthlyconferencecallsonthe4subgroups–DGFT,publicprocurementpolicy,PollutionControlBoardandBIS.

Manufacturing Committee and Supply Chain and Logistics Committee Interaction with Government of Tamil Nadu Officials

On 27th November 2017 members of AMCHAM’sManufacturing Committee and the Supply Chain andLogistics Committee met with Mr. Atulya Misra, IAS,PrincipalSecretary, IndustriesDepartment,Governmentof Tamil Nadu along with Mr. M. S. Shanmugam IAS,Additional Secretary, Industries Department andMr. K. Balasubramanian, Deputy Secretary, IndustriesDepartment. From AMCHAM the meeting was led byMr.SanjayKoul,Chairman–ManufacturingCommittee,AMCHAM andChairman &Managing Director, TimkenIndiaandMr.SrinivasanSarangapani,Chairman–SupplyChainandLogisticsCommittee,AMCHAMandDirectorOperations, Timken Engineering and Research India.Mr.IqbalSait,Chairman–KarnatakaChapter,AMCHAMandHeadofEMEAOperations,SaggezzaIndia,wasalsopresent.

Someof thechallengesdiscussedincludedtherevisedprocessfordisbursingtheincentives(asperMOU)under

theGSTregime,theTamilNaduBusinessFacilitationAct,compliance support, and infrastructure andoperationalchallenges to manufacturing units in Tamil Nadu. ThegovernmentgaveanoverviewoftheonlineportalfortheBusinessFacilitationActandofferedanothermeetingwithmoredetails.Mr.MisrarequestedAMCHAMcompaniestoadvocatefortheportalandwantedtolearnaboutsomeof the best practices of companies operating in TamilNadu.Heemphasizedthattheaerospaceparkwasreadyfor investment.Mr.MisraofferedtocreateadeskattheGuidanceBureau,inconsultationwiththeconsulateandAMCHAM, thatcouldmeetmonthly todiscuss industrychallenges.

Representatives from APCO Worldwide, BorgWarnerMorseSystemsIndia,BTIConsultants,Caterpillar India,Deloitte, Ford India, Honeywell, and Modine ThermalSystemsattendedthemeeting.

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Reception for Ambassador Mark Green, Administrator, USAID

Ms.RanjanaKhanna,DirectorGeneralCEO,AMCHAMIndia,alongwithMr.VivekVasishtha,ExecutiveDirectorand Country Leader Government and RegulatoryAffairs,IBMIndiaandMr.AnandRishi,GeneralProgramManager–Sirturo,JanssenPharmaceuticalofJohnson&Johnson,attendedareception forAmbassadorMark

Green, Administrator, USAID, who was in India for theGlobalEntrepreneurshipSummit.ThereceptionwasheldatthehomeofMr.MarkWhite,MissionDirector,USAID,on 29th November 2017 in New Delhi. ParticipantsdiscussedwaystopartnerwithUSAIDandlearnedaboutthedevelopmentworkhappeninginIndia.

Aviation Committee Meeting

AMCHAM’s Aviation Committee met on November30th, 2017 at the UTC office, Gurgaon. The meetingcommenced with a welcome address by Ms. RanjanaKhanna, Director General CEO, AMCHAM India, andopeningremarksbyMr.PalashRoyChowdhury,Chairman–AviationCommittee,AMCHAMandManagingDirector–India,Pratt&Whitney.Thecommitteehasformedfour

subgroups on 1) general aviation 2) innovation 3) skilldevelopmentand4)airportinfrastructureanddecidedtofocusonthesefourkeyareas in2018.Theother topicsofdiscussion included the topprioritystates thatcouldbeengagedwith,takingforwardthecommittee’sagendaandthe ‘WINGSINDIA2018,’ theflagshipeventoncivilaviation,whichhasbeenscheduledforMarch2018.

MembersofAMCHAM'sAviationCommittee,underthechairmanshipofMr.PalashRoyChowdhury,ManagingDirector-India,Pratt&Whitney,atacommitteemeeting

Smart Cities and Infrastructure Summit 2017

AMCHAM’sSmartCitiesandInfrastructureSummit2017brought together teams of government officials fromGujarat Transmission Company, Gujarat Electrical GridCompany,EnergyEfficiencyServicesandtheDelhiMetroRailCorporationtomeetwithmemberstodiscussneedsfortechnologythatthegovernmenthasatvariouslevels.The Summit took place in Gurgaon on 4th December2017. AMCHAMmember companies spoke about howtheycouldfulfill thegovernment’svisiononsmartcitiesandalsobroughtforthissuesthatcompaniesfaceduringthebiddingprocessandimplementation.

Companies suchasHPEnterprise,MotorolaSolutions,Cisco,3MCorporation,HoneywellandSmartEexplainedabout their cutting-edge technology that they haveoffered to the government at various levels of projectimplementation. In the inaugural session, Mr. HarishKrishnan, Managing Director, Public Affairs & StrategicEngagements,CiscoSystems, India&SAARCandMr.Ashwini K. Channan, Director Government Relations,HoneywellInternational(India)maderemarks.

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(L-R) Dr. Jaijit Bhattacharya, Co-Chairman - Infrastructure and Smart Cities Committee, AMCHAM and Partner, KPMG, Ms. AileenCroweNandi,DeputyMinisterCounselorforCommercialAffairs,U.S.Embassy,Mr.HarishKrishnan,ManagingDirector,PublicAffairs&StrategicEngagements,CiscoSystems, India&SAARC,Dr.SameerSharma,AdditionalSecretary,MinistryofHousingandUrbanAffairs and Mission Director, Smart Cities Mission, Government of India, Mr. Ashwini K. Channan, Director Government Relations,HoneywellInternational(India),Ms.RanjanaKhanna,DirectorGeneralCEO,AMCHAM,Ms.MehnazAnsari,Representative,India,SouthandSoutheast Asia,USTDA, andMr. SamitRay,Co-Chairman - Infrastructure andSmartCitiesCommittee, AMCHAMandDirectorGovernmentAffairsandLeader,SmartCities,UnitedTechnologiesCorporation,attheSmartCitiesandInfrastructureSummitinauguralsession

The chief guest, Dr. Sameer Sharma, AdditionalSecretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs,outlinedhisministry’smissiononsmartcities.Hespokeat lengthabouthowcitieshadbeenplannedinfitsandstartsowingtomanywavesofurbanizationundermanyadministrations.Forinstance,theBritishhadintroducedthe Civil Lines, the Cantonment Lines and the regularbazaars.TheMughalsandtheTurkshadintroducedtheirownurbanizationtoDelhi.Dr.Sharmasaidthatthecurrentcitizen-centricplanwishedtostartafreshandupgradeall90designatedcities.

Ms.AileenCroweNandi,DeputyMinisterCounselor forCommercial Affairs, U.S. Embassy, expressed interestin connecting with urban mobility solution-basedorganizationssuchasDMRCin takingforwardtheU.S.Embassy’smandatetosupporttheGovernmentofIndia’ssmartcitiesmission.ShespokeoffutureplansinthethreestateswithwhomtheU.S.Embassyhadbeeninteractingso far, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.ShesaidtheUnitedStateswascommittedtothesuccessofurbanizationmodelscurrentlybeingpushedinIndia.

Ms. Mehnaz Ansari, Representative, India, South andSoutheastAsia,USTDA,spokeabout the reverse trademissionsthatUSTDAhadconductedtobringgovernmentofficials from Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and AndhraPradesh to learn more about the smart city initiativesmade in the U.S. She thanked AMCHAM for engagingwith the central and state governments and for takingforwardtheUSTDAvisionofparticipationinIndia’ssmartcitiesmission.

Co-Chairmanof theAMCHAMInfrastructureandSmartCities Committee, Dr. Jaijit Bhattacharya, outlinedthepath that AMCHAMwished to follow in helping thegovernmenttofulfillthesmartcitiesmission.Hestressedon the need for including the development of roads,railwaytracks,metrosandairportssothatsmartcitiesdonotendupcreatingbottlenecksineitherinter-cityorintra-citymovements.TheotherCo-Chairman,Mr.SamitRay,stressedontheneedtoconnectwiththechiefminister’sofficesinstatesforgreaterinteraction.Hecitedthequote“IndiaunderbuildsandChinaoverbuilds”toexplaintheproblemswithIndianplanningforsmartcities.

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Anti-Corruption & FCPA Compliance Committee’s Breakfast Meeting

The Anti-Corruption & FCPA Compliance Committeeheld a breakfast meeting on 5th December 2017 attheWalmart India office inGurgaon.Opening remarkswere made by Ms. Ritika Ratti, Chairperson – Anti-Corruption & FCPA Compliance Committee, AMCHAMandChiefEthics&ComplianceOfficer&HeadofAnti-Corruption, Walmart India. Based on the suggestionsreceived frommembers in the lastmeeting, AMCHAMorganized an interactive discussion on ‘Due Diligenceof Sub-Contractors’ and ‘How to Address GovernmentRequests.’ Members shared their experiences in detail

and best practices based on their dealings with sub-contractors/thirdpartyvendors.

The committee decided to organize monthly bestpracticesharingsessionsasawaytoaidallcommitteemembers to discuss complicated situations within thegroup.Memberssuggestedtheirinterestareas,agendatopicsandspeakersforthe2018Anti-Corruption&FCPACompliance master class, which is being planned inMumbai.

National Executive Board Meeting

The third meeting of AMCHAM’s National ExecutiveBoardwasheldonDecember6th,2017inMumbai.Thenew U.S. Ambassador to India, Mr. Kenneth I. Juster,addressedtheboardmeetingasHonoraryPresidentofthechamber.Mr.PratyushKumar,Chairman,AMCHAMIndia, welcomed the Ambassador and discussed the

U.S.–Indiastrategicpartnership.Thiswasfollowedbyanintroductionofboardmembersandbriefcommentsbyeachofthem,sharingtheirexperienceofdoingbusinessIndia. AMCHAM welcomed Mr. J. Robert Garverick,Minister Counselor for Economic Affairs, Environment,ScienceandTechnology,U.S.Embassytotheboard.

At theNationalExecutiveBoardmeeting inMumbai (L-R)Mr.AtulDhawan,HonorarySecretaryandTreasurer,AMCHAMandPartner,Deloitte,Ms.RanjanaKhanna,DirectorGeneralCEO,AMCHAM,Mr.PratyushKumar,Chairman,AMCHAMandPresident,BoeingIndia,AmbassadorKennethJuster,Ms.KakuNakhate,NEBMember,AMCHAMandPresidentandCountryHead(India),BankofAmerica,andConsulGeneralEdgardKagan,U.S.ConsulateMumbai

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(L-R)ConsulGeneralEdgardKagan,U.S.ConsulateMumbai,Mr.PratyushKumar,Chairman,AMCHAMandPresident,BoeingIndiaandAmbassadorKennethJuster,U.S.AmbassadortoIndia,attheNationalExecutiveBoardmeetinginMumbai

Mr.MaheshKrishnamurti,Chairman –WesternRegion,AMCHAM India and Managing Director, RGP, made apresentation on the Western Region. Mr. Sanjay Koul,Chairman – Manufacturing Committee, AMCHAM and

Chairman & Managing Director, Timken India, made apresentationonmanufacturinginIndiaandanoverviewofthemanufacturingcommittee’sactivities.

Presentation of Pre-Budget Memorandum to Ministry of Finance

AMCHAM and the European Business Group (EBG)presented thePre-BudgetMemorandum2018-19 to theChairman,CBDT,andhisteamintheMinistryofFinanceonDecember7th,2017.TheAMCHAMteamwasledbyMs.NeeruAhuja,Chairperson–TaxandTariffCommittee,

AMCHAM and Partner, Business Tax, Deloitte Haskins&SellsLLP.Apresentationon indirect taxeswasmadeonbehalf ofAMCHAMbyMr.AbhishekJain,Partner –IndirectTaxServices,Ernst&YoungLLP.EBGmadeapresentationondirecttaxes.

Meeting with Ms. Radha S. Chauhan, CEO, Government e-Market

A few members of AMCHAM met with Ms. RadhaS. Chauhan, CEO, Government e-Market, (GeM) onDecember12th,2017inheroffice.Memberssharedtheirexperiences with the Government e-Market portal andrequested forguidelines tostreamline theprocess, rate

contracts, add new products and new companies andallowforchange inprices.Ms.RadhaS.Chauhansaidthattheywerelookingintoalltheseissuesandrequestedfor information frommembers tomake theGeMportalmoreeffectiveandtransparent.

Energy Cooperation Program (ECP) Meeting

An Energy Cooperation Program (ECP) meeting washeldon14thDecember2017 inNewDelhi.Ms.MadhviKataria,DeputyDirectorGeneral,AMCHAM,welcomedmembersandMr.RajendraShrivastav,Chairman-EnergyCooperationProgram,AMCHAMandCountryManager(India),AESIndiaPvt.Ltd.gavetheopeningremarks.

FromUSTDA,Ms.Alissa Lee,CountryManager, SouthAsiaandMs.MehnazAnsari,CountryRepresentative -

SouthAsia, joinedthemeetingoveracallandupdated

Energy Cooperation Program (ECP) meeting in progressunder thechairmanshipofMr.RajendraShrivastav,CountryManager(India),AESIndia

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Meeting with Mr. Nripendra Misra, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister

A one-to-one meeting between AMCHAM - AdvaMedmember Medtronic and Mr. Nripendra Misra wasorganizedonDecember14th,2017.Mr.JamesSouthwick,VicePresident,GlobalGovernmentAffairsmetwith thePrincipalSecretaryasafollowuptoAMCHAM-AdvaMeddelegationmeetinginOctober.Thediscussionincludedapresentationon the ‘GlobalMedicalDevices IndustryFootprint in India’surveydatatothePrincipalSecretary

members on the U.S. Gas Infrastructure Exports

InitiativeandStandardsandConformanceCooperation

Program(SCCP)workshopsplannedin2018.Ms.Dinah

McDougall, Commercial Officer, U.S. Embassy, shared

details on the upcomingSmartGrid& Energy Storage

TradeMissionplannedforMarch2018.

Theothertopicsofdiscussionincludedkeytradeissues

affectingenergycompaniesinIndia,CleanEnergyTask

Force and upcoming Energy Dialogue 2018. It was

decidedduringthemeetingthatAMCHAMwouldcreate

a document which would include opportunities and

challengesofallECPmembercompaniestobeshared

with theCommercialAffairsSectionandDepartmentof

EnergyAffairs,U.S.Embassy.

andhowtomakequalitymedicaltechnologiesaffordabletoall.Mr.MisraalsorequestedtheassociationtoreachouttoitsmemberstoconsiderinvestinginmanufacturingfacilitiesinIndiaandrequestedsuggestionsonachievinguniversal healthcare and access to primary care forthe Indian population. AdvaMed-AMCHAM offered toworkwithitsmembersandprepareapositionpaperforconsiderationbythePrincipalSecretaryincomingweeks.

Annual Christmas Ball 2017

AMCHAM organized its annual Christmas Ball on 16thDecember 2017 in New Delhi. Mr. Pratyush Kumar,Chairman, AMCHAM and President, Boeing India,along with Ms. Ranjana Khanna, Director GeneralCEO, AMCHAM, welcomed participants and wishedeveryonehappyholidays.U.S.Embassyofficials,Indiangovernment officials, AMCHAM members, along withtheirspouses,attendedthefunfilledevening.

TheChristmasBallwasmadepossiblebythefollowingsponsors:

Platinum sponsors – Azure Power, Boeing, Cisco,Herbalife,LockheedMartin,Metlife

Gold sponsors – Cognizant, Corning, Dell, Goodyear,Jacobs,Textron,Tupperware

Silver sponsors – Coca-Cola India, General Motors,Pepsico

Bronzesponsors–Amazon,D.E.Shaw

Supporting partners – American Airlines, Baxter,Kohinoor,VLCC

Eveningpartners–JackDaniels(BrownForman)

Ms.RanjanaKhanna,DirectorGeneralCEO,AMCHAMMs. Aileen Crowe Nandi, Deputy Minister Counselor forCommercialAffairs,U.S.Embassywithherhusband

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(L-R)Mr.PatrickSantilllo,MinisterCounselorforCommercialAffairs,U.S.Embassy,Ms.KathySantillo,Ms.JoSindelarandMr.ScottSindelar,MinisterCounselorforAgriculturalAffairs,U.S.Embassy

Membersparticipatinginacouplegame

CaptainRobertOgden,Chief-OfficeofDefenseCooperation,U.S.Embassy

CaptainRobertOgden,Chief-OfficeofDefenseCooperation,U.S.Embassy

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(L-R) Mr. Chad Norberg, U.S. Embassy, Ms. Ashmita Sethi, Boeing, Mr. Pratyush Kumar, Chairman, AMCHAM, Ms. Gargi Kumar,Ms.ChoubeyandMr.R.N.Choubey,Secretary,MinistryofCivilAviation,GoI

Mr.VishalSeth,MangingDirector,Arconiccalminghisprizefrom Mr. Robert Garverick, Minister Counselor EconomicAffairs and Environment, Science and Technology, U.S.EmbassyMembersclaimingtheirprizesattheball

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Membersclaimingtheirprizesattheball

Membersclaimingtheirprizesattheball Membersparticipatinginacouplegame

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Membersclaimingtheirprizesattheball

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AMCHAMmemberswithMs.MaryKayCarlson,DeputyChiefofMission,U.S.Embassy

Securing Digital India

AMCHAM’s Cyber Security Committee, in partnershipwith Dell, organized a roundtable on ‘Securing Digital

India’withkeystakeholders,decisionmakersandindustryleaderson19thDecember2017inNewDelhi.

(L-R)Dr.C.S.MohapatraAdviser (FinancialStability)andSecretaryofFinancialStability&DevelopmentCouncil (FSDC),Departmentof Economic Affairs,Government of India,Mr. Arijit Sen,Co-Chairman –Cyber SecurityCommittee, AMCHAMandDirector –GlobalGovernmentRelations&PublicPolicy,Dell,Mr.SanjayKumarVerma,AdditionalSecretary(CyberDiplomacy),MinistryofExternalAffairs,GovernmentofIndia,andMr.PratyushKumar,Chairman,AMCHAMIndiaPresident,BoeingIndia,beingpresentedwithAMCHAM's2018calendar

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(L-R)Dr.C.S.MohapatraAdviser(FinancialStability)andSecretaryofFinancialStability&DevelopmentCouncil(FSDC),DepartmentofEconomicAffairs,GovernmentofIndia,Mr.ArijitSen,Co-Chairman–CyberSecurityCommittee,AMCHAMIndiaandDirector–GlobalGovernmentRelations&PublicPolicy,Dell,Mr.SanjayKumarVerma,AdditionalSecretary(CyberDiplomacy),MinistryofExternalAffairs,Governmentof India, Mr.PratyushKumarChairman,AMCHAMIndiaPresident,BoeingIndia,Mr.RobertGarverickMinisterCounselorEconomicAffairsandEnvironment,ScienceandTechnology,U.S.EmbassyandMs.RanjanaKhanna,DirectorGeneralCEO,AMCHAM

ThefirstsessionbeganwithremarksbyMr.ArijitSen,Co-Chairman – Cyber Security Committee, AMCHAM andDirector–GlobalGovernmentRelations&PublicPolicy,Dell.RemarksweregivenbyMr.RobertGarverick,MinisterCounselor Economic Affairs and Environment, ScienceandTechnology,U.S.Embassy,Mr.SanjayKumarVerma,Additional Secretary (Cyber Diplomacy), Ministry ofExternalAffairs,GovernmentofIndia,Mr.PratyushKumar,Chairman,AMCHAMIndiaPresident,BoeingIndia,Dr.C.S.MohapatraAdviser(FinancialStability)andSecretaryof Financial Stability & Development Council (FSDC),Department of Economic Affairs, Government of Indiaand Mr. Ravinder P. Singh, Director Strategic & MegaBusiness, Dell EMC. Some of the topics of discussionincluded the U.S. – India bilateral relationship, cyberframework, ICTDialogue,cybersecurity in thefinancialsectorandglobaloutlookoncybersecurity.

ThesecondsessionincludedexpertsMr.RakeshKharwal,Country Manager-Security Business, IBM India, Mr.SubrataBagchi,SeniorManagingDirector,ProtivitiIndiaandDr.C.S.MohapatraAdviser(FinancialStability)andSecretary of Financial Stability & Development Council(FSDC), Department of Economic Affairs, Governmentof India. They shared their valuable insights on cybersecurityanditsimplications,challengesandtheimpactit has had on businesses and other topics like criticalinfrastructure, capacity building, artificial intelligenceand data protection were also discussed. The sessionconcludedwithavoteofthanksfromMr.ArijitSen,Co-Chairman – Cyber Security Committee, AMCHAM andDirector–GlobalGovernmentRelations&PublicPolicy,followedbyanetworkinglunch.

Anti-Corruption & FCPA Compliance Core Committee Meeting

On 11th January 2018, the Anti-Corruption & FCPAComplianceCoreCommitteemeeting tookplace in theBausch&LombofficeinGurugram.OpeningremarksweremadebyMs.RitikaRatti,Chairperson–Anti-Corruption& FCPA Compliance Committee, AMCHAM and ChiefEthics&ComplianceOfficer&HeadofAnti-Corruption,Walmart India. There was an interactive discussion on

howtomeasuretheeffectivenessofcompliancetraining,bothinternalandexternal.Eachmembersharedthetoolsthattheirorganizationusestomeasuretheeffectivenessof internal trainings held throughout the year. The corecommitteealsodiscussedtheactionplanfor2018–2019andthepotentialtopicsforthe2018FCPAMasterClass.

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The Anti-Corruption and FCPA Compliance Core Committee with (center) Ms. Ritika Ratti, Chairperson – Anti-Corruption & FCPAComplianceCommittee,AMCHAMandChiefEthics&ComplianceOfficer&HeadofAnti-Corruption,WalmartIndia

Roundtable with Ambassador Richard Verma and Ambassador Nirupama Rao, Co-Chairs, Center for American Progress U.S.-India Task Force

With the increasing importance of the U.S. – Indiapartnership to advancing shared interests in globalpeace, prosperity, and freedom, AMCHAM organizeda roundtable with the Co-Chairs for the Center forAmericanProgressTaskForceonU.S.–IndiaRelations,AmbassadorRichardVermaandAmbassadorNirupamaRao, on 16th January 2018 at the office of LockheedMartinIndiainNewDelhi.

Ms.RanjanaKhanna,DirectorGeneralCEO,AMCHAM,welcomed participants and Mr. Pratyush Kumar,

Chairman,AMCHAMandPresident,Boeing India,gaveopeningremarks.TheAmbassadorsdiscussedthetaskforce report, The United States and India: Forging an Indispensable Democratic Partnership,whichoutlinedapathforwardforthebilateralrelationshipfocusingonfivekeyareas:investinginjobsandeconomicopportunities;buildingacleanenergyfuturefromthebottomup;creatinga U.S.-India security advantage in Asia; strengtheningdemocratic institutions at home and around the world;andstrengtheningtiesbetweenIndiansandAmericans.

MemberswithAmbassadorRichardVermaandAmbassadorNirupamaRao,Co-Chairs,CenterforAmericanProgressU.S.-IndiaTaskForce,ataroundtableinNewDelhionthetaskforcereportTheUnitedStatesandIndia:ForginganIndispensableDemocraticPartnership

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Ambassador Richard Verma and Ambassador NirupamaRao, Co-Chairs, Center for American Progress U.S.-IndiaTaskForce,ataroundtableinNewDelhi

The Q&A touched upon how to make infrastructure akey shared area of focus, enhancing energy efficiencyby bringing together government and private sectorexperts, starting a Future of Work Dialogue to refinepolicysolutions,definitionofMajorDefensePartner,howthetelecomsectorcanupgradeIndia’spublicsafetyandcybersecurity.

Interaction with Ambassador Alice Wells, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of South and Central Asia Affairs, U.S. Department of State

On 17th January 2018, AMCHAM held an interactivediscussion with Ambassador Alice Wells, AssistantSecretary,BureauofSouthandCentralAsiaAffairs,U.S.Department of State, at the U.S. Embassy, New Delhi.Mr. RobertGarverick,Minister Counselor for EconomicAffairsandEnvironment,ScienceandTechnology,U.S.Embassy, introduced the visiting delegates and Ms.Ranjana Khanna, Director General CEO, AMCHAMwelcomed the participants. Mr. Phil Shaw, Chairman –Defense Committee and NEB Member, AMCHAM andChiefExecutive,LockheedMartinIndia,gaveanupdateon the defense partnership. Ambassador Alice WellsspokeaboutgrowthinU.S.–Indiadefensepartnership,itsimportancebothbilaterallyandmultilaterally,withtherecentannouncementoftheformationofthequad.Thetwoplustwodialogue,tobehostedinWashingtonD.C.,wouldprovidefurtheropportunityforthedefensesector.

Thismeetingaimedatgaininganunderstandingof theconcernsofU.S.defensecompaniesoperatinginIndia.Ambassador Wells highlighted the necessity for U.S.

MemberswithAmbassadorAliceWells,AssistantSecretary,BureauofSouthandCentralAsianAffairs,U.S.DepartmentofStateandotherseniorU.S.EmbassyofficialsataroundtableondefenseinNewDelhi

(L-R)Mr.PhilShaw,Chairman-DefenseCommitteeandNEBMember, AMCHAM and Chief Executive, Lockheed MartinIndia,AmbassadorAliceWells,AssistantSecretary,BureauofSouthandCentralAsianAffairs,U.S.DepartmentofStateand Mr. Rob Garverick, Minister Counselor for Economic,Environment,ScienceandTechnologyAffairs,U.S.Embassy

companies to focus on capacity building to supportthe Indian government’sMake in India. This interactionbroughtouttheneedforbothB2BandB2Ginteractionson theside-linesofdialogue.The importanceofcyber-defense initiatives and its possible inclusion in theforthcomingcyberdialoguewasalsodiscussed.

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Roundtable on U.S. Business and Ease of Doing Business in the Eastern Region with Mr. Robert Garverick, Minister Counselor for Economic, Environment, Science and Technology Affairs, U.S. Embassy

AMCHAM’s Eastern Region hosted a roundtablediscussionwithMr.RobertGarverick,MinisterCounselorfor Economic, Environment, Science and TechnologyAffairs,U.S.Embassy inKolkataon January25th, 2018.Mr. Joydeep Datta Gupta, Eastern Region ExecutiveCommittee Member, AMCHAM and Partner, DeloitteTouché Tohmatsu India LLP welcomed Mr. Garverick.AMCHAM members briefed Mr. Garverick on thepresenceofAmericancompaniesintheregionandonthe

opportunities and challenges of doingbusiness inWestBengalandEasternIndia,touchingonissueslikeavailabilityof land, labor, and thegeneral investmentclimate in theregion. Members present spoke about Bengal being aresourceforwell-educatedtalentinIndiaandabroad.TheyendorsedtheratingbythecentralgovernmentthatBengalhasbeenpositionedastheleadingstateoneaseofdoingbusiness in India. Members also discussed challengesrelatedtoIPRprotectioninsoftware,amongstothers.


On 31st January 2018, a Defense Committee Meetingwasheldat theLockheedMartinOffice,NewDelhi.Mr.Phil Shaw, Chairman – Defense Committee, AMCHAMandChiefExecutive,LockheedMartin India,briefedthecommitteemembers on themeetingwith AmbassadorAlice Wells, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of South andCentral Asia Affairs,U.S.Department of State.He also

informed the committee of an upcoming meeting withLieutenant General Charles Hooper, Director, DefenseSecurityCooperationAgency.Thecommitteediscussedaction points for the coming months and requestedAMCHAMtosetupacoupleofmeetingswiththeMinistryofDefence.

Breakfast Interaction with Lieutenant General Charles Hooper, Director, Defense Security Cooperation Agency

AMCHAMmetwithLieutenantGeneralCharlesHooper,Director,DefenseSecurityCooperationAgencyandhisteam on 2nd February 2018 at ACSA, U.S. Embassyfor a breakfast interaction. Ms. Ranjana Khanna,Director General CEO, AMCHAM and Mr. PratyushKumar, Chairman, AMCHAM and President, Boeing

India welcomed Lieutenant General Charles Hooper.The opening remarkswere delivered byMr. Phil Shaw,Chairman – Defense Committee and NEB Member,AMCHAMandChief Executive, LockheedMartin India.Mr. Shaw focusedonU.S.-Indiadefense sector and itsgrowingrelationship.

(L-R) Captain Robert Ogden, Chief - Office of DefenseCooperation, U.S. Embassy, Mr. Phil Shaw, Chairman -DefenseCommitteeandNEBMember,AMCHAMandChiefExecutive,LockheedMartinIndia,LieutenantGeneralCharlesHooper, Director, Defense Security Cooperation Agency,andMr.MichaelKoch,Co-Chairman -DefenseCommittee,AMCHAM and Vice President - South Asia, InternationalBusinessDevelopment,Boeing

Defense Committee members with (far right) Mr. PratyushKumar,Chairman,AMCHAMandPresident,Boeing Indiaatan interaction with LTG Charles Hooper, Director, DefenseSecurityCooperationAgency

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LieutenantGeneralCharlesHooper,Director,DefenseSecurityCooperationAgencywithAMCHAMDefenseCommitteemembersandseniorU.S.Governmentofficials

Lieutenant General Charles Hooper expressed his

enthusiasm for visiting India. He explained his vision

for the Defense Security Cooperation Agency: building

relationships,providing transparency,being responsive,

andefficiencyandeffectivenessofworkbeingdone.He

spokeabouthisexperienceswhileworkinginSoutheast

Asia.Thereafter,heinvitedparticipantsforaQ&Asession.

AMCHAMmembersbriefedhimof the issues facedby

theindustryandtheirexperiencesworkinginIndia.

Mr. Michael Koch, Co-Chairman – Defense Committee

AMCHAMandVicePresident-SouthAsia,International

Business Development, Boeing, thanked Lieutenant

GeneralHooperandgavetheclosingremarks.

Tax and Tariff Committee Meeting

A meeting of AMCHAM’s Tax and Tariff Committeewas held on 15th February 2018 in the Deloitte office,Gurgaon.ThemeetingwaschairedbyMs.NeeruAhuja,Partner,BusinessTax,DeloitteHaskins&SellsLLP,withMs. Garima Pande, Partner – Tax & Regulatory, Ernst

& Young LLP, as theCo-Chair. Themeetingdiscussedtax proposals announced in the Union Budget; issuesrelating to BEPS; anti-profiteering provisions and otherchallengesunderGST.

Meeting with Mr. Apurva Chandra, DG Acquisition, Ministry of Defence

On19thFebruary2018,AMCHAM’sDefenceCommitteemembersmetwithMr.ApurvaChandra,DG(Acquisition),Ministry of Defence and his team. The key discussionpointswereincreaseineaseofdoingbusiness,strategicpartnerships and the MoD procurement process.

AMCHAMmembersgaveafewsuggestionswhichwereappreciatedbyMr. ApurvaChandra.He expressed hisinterest in making such interactions regular to discussandunderstandU.S.industry’sperspective.

Economic Affairs Committee Meeting

The first meeting of AMCHAM’s Economic Affairs

CommitteewasheldonFebruary20th2018,inGurgaon

under the chairmanship of Mr. Nitin Atroley, Chairman

– Economic Affairs Committee, AMCHAM and Office

Managing Partner Delhi, KPMG in India. Members

brainstormed on the agenda for 2018 – 2019. Some

of the topics discussed included trade, tariffs, capital

markets,investmentpromotion,healthcareinfrastructure,

electric vehicles, aadhaar card challenges, ease of

doing business and the insolvency bankruptcy code.

ThecommitteedecidedtocreateasurveyforAMCHAM

membersoneaseofdoingbusiness.

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OnFebruary 21st, 2018 aDefenseCommitteemeeting

washeldat theBAESystems Indiaoffice.Themeeting

was chaired by Mr. Phil Shaw, Chairman – Defense

Committee, AMCHAM and Chief Executive, Lockheed

Martin India and Mr. Michael Koch, Co-Chairman –

Defense Committee, AMCHAM and Vice President –

SouthAsia,InternationalBusinessDevelopment,Boeing

InternationalCorporation.Memberswerebriefedon the

meetingswithMr. RajibKumar Sen, EconomicAdvisor

and In-Charge DOMW and Mr. Apurva Chandra, DG

(Acquisition), MoD. Members discussed issues to be

raisedintheupcomingmeetingwithSecretaryDefence

Production, Mr. Ajay Kumar. Increase in ease of doing

business,strategicpartnershipsandoffsetswerea few

topicsthatwerefinalizedanddiscussedatlength.

Meeting with Dr. Ajay Kumar, Secretary Defence Production

On26thFebruary2018,Dr.AjayKumar,SecretaryDefenceProduction, met with AMCHAM’s Defense Committeemembers at his office. Key points of discussion wereoffsets,strategicpartnerships,increaseineaseofdoingbusinessandDTTI.TheAMCHAMteamwasledbyMr.Phil Shaw, Chairman – Defense Committee and NEB

Member,AMCHAMandChiefExecutive,LockheedMartinIndia and Mr. Michael Koch, Co-Chairman – DefenseCommittee,AMCHAMandVicePresident–SouthAsia,InternationalBusinessDevelopment,BoeingInternationalCorporation.Theforumisworkingonrevertingtohimwithpositionpapersforsubmissiononthepointsdiscussed.

Medical Devices and Pharma Committee Meeting with Mr. Darrel Ching, Principal Commercial Officer, U.S. Embassy

On26thFebruary2018,membersofAMCHAM’sMedicalDevicesCommitteeandPharmaceuticalsCommitteemetwithMr.DarrelChing,PrincipalCommercialOfficer,U.S.Embassy.ThemeetingwasheldattheBostonScientificofficeinGurgaonandchairedbyMr.PrabalChakraborty,Chairman–MedicalDevicesCommittee,AMCHAMandVicePresidentandManagingDirector,BostonScientificIndia.

The objective of the meeting was to brief Embassyofficials on the recent developments in the medicaldevices and pharmaceuticals sectors and to get theirguidanceon theway forward.Membersof themedicaldevices industry highlighted some of the challenges intermsoftherecentdecisionbytheGovernmentofIndiaon capping of the price of coronary stents and furtherreducing thepricesofdrugelutingstents.Other issues

includedthepublicprocurementorderandtrademarginrationalization implementation. Industry alsomentionedhow new product launches and bringing innovativetechnologies to India could suffer. From the pharmaside, the issues highlighted included patent linkagesand price controls. Members also suggested to workwiththegovernmentandadvocateforimplementationofthenewpharmaceuticalspolicyandUniversalCodeforPharmaceuticalMarketingPractices(UCPMP).

Mr.DarrelChingmadeapresentationontheadvocacybytheCommercialSectionoftheEmbassyandencouragedmembers to take their support for advocacy. He alsoinformed that all the companies are going through atough period and the Embassy had recently convenedaroundtable involvingotherEmbassies tofindareasofcommonconcerns.

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MUMBAIWestern Region Committee Meeting

AMCHAM’s Western Region Committee meeting washeld on Tuesday, 14thNovember 2017.WRCmembersactivelydiscussedandideatedtowardsthedevelopments

andnextstepsleadingtotheWesternRegion’ssignatureeventscheduledon6thDecember2017inMumbai.

AMCHAM supported India Supply Chain Conference 2017: ‘Supply Chains: Managing in Times of Upheaval’

On 15th of November 2017, AMCHAM India as anassociate partner to ASCP organized the India SupplyChain Conference 2017 on the overarching theme‘Supply Chains: Managing in Times of Upheaval.’ Theconferencewas a world class platform for discussionsamongst business and academic leaders with a viewto seeking novel and innovative solutions to positivelytransformsupplychainchallengesintoopportunitiesforallbusinessverticalsinIndia.

RegionalDirector-WesternRegion,AMCHAMIndia.

The keynote address for the India Supply Chain 2017AcademicConclavewasmadebyMr.EdwardSweeney,Professor, Aston University, Birmingham, U.K. whothroughhisaddresshighlighted‘SupplyChainLearningInnovation: Meeting Contemporary Global Challenges.’TheAcademicConclave-paneldiscussionsfocussedon‘ManagingtheSupplyChainTalent-SkillIndia’tofocusondevelopingprogrammaticstrategies for the logisticssector towards ensuring corporate readiness for 2020.The panel included academic professional from NITIEMumbai,SIIBPune, IIMKashipur, IIMCacuttaandwaschaired by Mr K G Karmakar, Ex. Managing Director,NABARD.

The keynote address for the India Supply Chain 2017Business Conference wasmade by Mr. Anubhav Jain,Principal, The Boston Consulting Group, India whilehighlighting ‘Supply Chain: Getting Future Ready.’ Aspecialaddressby

Mr. Ambarish Gupta, Senior Partner, Intueri ConsultingLLPhighlighted‘MeetingtheChallengesofCompetitiveEmergingMarket-TheViewfromOutsideIndiafor2020.’Aspecialpresentationon ‘CurrentTopicsandSituationon Logistics and Supply-Chain Management in Japan& Japanese Companies’ was made by Mr. TomoyoshiOgawa,ProfessorofLogisticsandMarketing,SchoolofCommerce,MeijiUniversity,Tokyo,Japan.

The1stconclavesessionofIndiaSupplyChainBusinessLeaders discussed ‘Building Blocks of SuccessfulSupplyChains: InfrastructureNeeds and SupplyChainAlignment for Make-In-India – Integrating Process &Technology.’Thesessionwasfollowedbyapresentationby Mr. Subhash Agarwal, Commissioner Customs,

The Academic Conclave Panel discusses ‘Managing theSupply Chain Talent - Skill India’ at India Supply ChainConference2017whichAMCHAMsupportedasanassociatepartner

TheeventcommencedwithaddressesbyMr.AnshumanNeil Basu, Convener & Hon. Secretary, Association ofSupply Chain Professionals and Mr. Ashish Pednekar,President,AssociationofSupplyChainProfessionals.The2017conferencethemeaddresswassharedbyMr.TASVijayaraghavan,Professor,XLRI-JamshedpurandChair-AcademicResearch&Policies,AssociationofSupplyChainProfessionals.Ontheoccasion,specialaddressesweremadebyMr.RyojiNoda,ConsulGeneralofJapan,Mumbai, Mr. Mukesh Ajmera, Chairman & ManagingDirector,ADNFireSafetyPvt.Ltd.AndMs.SurabhiWahal,

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JNCHonGSTandAEO.The2ndconclavewasapanelthat discussed ‘Future Trends - Is our Supply ChainPrepared?’ to blend with ‘The View fromOutside Indiafor2020-TheSupplyChainofChange.’Thepanelwasrepresented by business leaders from “K” Line (India)Pvt.Ltd.,AstonUniversity,U.K.TransAsiaBioMedical,St.JohnGroupandIIMCalcuttaandwaschairedbyAbhinavJohri,GlobalOperationsLeader-DigitalRisk&Advisory

Mr. Mahesh Krishnamurti, Chairman – Western Region,AMCHAM India and Managing Director, RGP, presentingAmbassador Juster with AMCHAM's 25th anniversarycommemorativebook

Services,Ernst&YoungLLP.

The day’s insightful conference came to a close withaddresses by Mr. Shubhobroto Chakraborty, KampanMukherjee, Professor, Indian Institute of Management,KashipurandMr.AshishPednekar,President,AssociationofSupplyChainProfessionals.

Western Region’s Signature Event - India: 2018 and Beyond

On 6th December 2017, AMCHAM’s Western Regionorganized it’s signature event under the overarchingthemeof‘India:2018&Beyond.ThesignificanteventalsomarkedAmbassadorKenneth I.Juster’sfirstaddress toAMCHAM India.Ms.RanjanaKhanna,DirectorGeneralCEO, AMCHAM India, welcomed the gathering ofindustry leaders,AMCHAM’sNEBmembers and seniorrepresentativesof theU.S.government, thussetting thetone for theevening throughheropening remarks. ThiswasfollowedbywarmwelcomeremarksbyMr.MaheshKrishnamurti, Chairman – Western Region, AMCHAMIndia and Managing Director, RGP, who welcomed theAmbassador on behalf of AMCHAM India. Through hisbriefaddress,Mr.ArunKumar,ViceChairman,AMCHAMand Chairman and CEO, KPMG in India, shared anintroduction to the Ambassador while also speakinghighly of his past experiences of interactions with him.AmbassadorKennethI.Justermadeaspecialaddress.

As part of the next session of the evening, Ms. KakuNakhate, NEB Member, AMCHAM India and PresidentandCountryHead (India),BankofAmerica, introducedthekeynotespeakerMr.PrashantJain,CIO,HDFCMutualFund.Throughapresentationandatalkon‘IndiaEconomyandEquities-BestLiesAhead,’Mr.Jainsharedhisviewsstating that a healthy pace of reforms continues andtheoutlook for theeconomy is improvingsteadily,whiledemonetisation and GST implementation caused somepaininshortterm,butwillbebeneficial inthelongtermand it isan improvingoutlook foreconomicgrowthandprofitgrowth.MarketsaretradingatattractivemarketcaptoGDPat78%CY18eandlargesupplyofstocks,sharpincrease in U.S. interest rates and how adverse globaldevelopments are key risks. An engagingQ&A sessionansweredseveralimportantissuesonthesubject.

The evening witnessed an interesting fireside chat on‘India:2018&Beyond’inwhichMs.VanithaNarayanan,ImmediatePastChairperson,AMCHAMandChairman,IBMIndiaPvt.Ltd.andMs.KakuNakhatediscussedawiderangeoftopicsincludingbigdataprivacy,innovationsintechnology,artificialIntelligenceandthecriticalneedforleaders to learnandunlearn toadapt.With therecentlyconcluded GES in Hyderabad, Ms. Narayanan sharedher insights on the entrepreneurial spirit in the countrytoday and the startup boom from an IBM perspective.With AMCHAM being a strong proponent of diversityand inclusion, Ms. Nakhate appealed to the audiencepresenttopartnerandcontributetothemomentumofthediversityandinclusionagendainIndia.

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AmbassadorKennethJusteraddressingAMCHAMmembersinMumbai(L-Rseatedonthedais)Mr.RanjanaKhanna,DirectorGeneralCEO,AMCHAM,Mr.ArunKumar,ViceChairman,AMCHAMandChairman&CEO,KPMGinIndia,Mr.MaheshKrishnamurti,Chairman–WesternRegion,AMCHAMIndiaandManagingDirector,RGPandConsulGeneralEdgardKagan,U.S.ConsulateMumbai

The3rdsegmentoftheenthrallingeveningwasanaddressby Mr. Rachid Fergati, Managing Director, UPS, whosharedhisexpert insighton futuristic Indiawitha focusofinfrastructureandlogistics.Mr.Fergatihighlightedthesustainable and accessible infrastructural solutions atUPS thatmake themstandapartasoneof the leadingorganizations in the field.Mr.GulshanKumarSachdev,ViceChairman,AMCHAMIndiaandManagingDirector,QuakerChemical IndiaLimited, throughhisconcludingremarks thanked Ambassador Kenneth Juster, theesteemedspeakers, thesponsors,AMCHAMmemberspresentand the leadersofAMCHAM’sWesternRegionfor coming together to create an impactful signatureevent.

Mr.RachidFergati,ManagingDirector,UPS

Theeventwassponsoredbyplatinumsponsor:UPS;silversponsors:CitibankIndia,DowChemicalInternationalPvt.Ltd.,andFranklinTempletonAssetManagement (India)Pvt. Ltd. and bronze sponsors: Abbott Healthcare Pvt.Ltd.,BankofAmericaN.A.,Ernst&YoungLLP,JacobsEngineering India Pvt. Ltd., KPMG in India, LubrizolAdvancedMaterialsIndiaPvt.Ltd.,MarshIndiaInsuranceBrokersPvt.Ltd.andResourcesGlobalProfessionals(I)Pvt.Ltd.Thesignatureeventconcludedwithnetworkingandconversationsovercocktailsanddinner.

Fireside chat on ‘India: 2018 & Beyond’ with Ms. VanithaNarayanan, Immediate Past Chairperson, AMCHAM andChairman, IBM IndiaandMs.KakuNakhate,NEBMember,AMCHAMandPresidentandCountryHead(India),BankofAmerica,inMumbai

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KeynotespeakerMr.PrashantJain,CIO,HDFCMutualFund,duringaninteractiveQ&AalongwithMs.KakuNakhate,NEBMember,AMCHAMandPresidentandCountryHead(India),BankofAmerica

KeynotespeakerMr.PrashantJain,CIO,HDFCMutualFund,duringaninteractiveQ&AalongwithMs.KakuNakhate,NEBMember,AMCHAMandPresidentandCountryHead(India),BankofAmerica

National Executive Board Members Meeting with the Hon’ble CM of Maharashtra, Mr. Devendra Fadnavis and Senior Member of the State Government of Maharashtra

On6thDecember2017,membersofAMCHAM'sNationalExecutive Boardmet with the Hon’ble Chief Minister ofMaharashtra,Mr. Devendra Fadnavis, alongwith seniorrepresentatives of the state government at SahyadriGovernment Guest House in Mumbai. The 16memberAMCHAMdelegationledbyMr.PratyushKumar,Chairman,AMCHAM, had a candid and insightful discussion withtheHon’bleCM.TheseniorgovernmentofficialspresentincludedMr.PraveenPardeshi,AdditionalChiefSecretaryto the Hon’ble CM, Mr. Sunil Porwal, Additional ChiefSecretaryIndustries,Mr.RajgopalDevara,PrincipalChief

UrbanDevelopmentDepartment.

The interaction was an important platform towards asignificantdialoguewhich included insightsonprioritiesand projects of the state government, best practices,acknowledgement of the support received by U.S.companies in the state and recommendations towardschallengesfacedbyindustry.Otherimportantdiscussionpoints included growing business opportunities andrecommendationsto leverageondigitalplatforms in thestatedepartments,updatesonthenewairports(Mumbai

MembersofAMCHAM'sNationalExecutiveBoardwiththeCMofMaharashtra,Mr.DevendraFadnavis

SecretaryandChiefProtocolOfficer,Mr.SureshKakani,ViceChairmanandMD,MaharashtraAirportDevelopmentCompany Ltd., Mr. U.P.S. Madan, MetropolitanCommissioner andAdditionalChiefSecretary,MMRDA,Mr.S.V.R.Srinivas,PrincipalSecretaryIT,Mr.SanjaySethi,CEO, MIDC and Mr. Nitin Kareer, Principal Secreatary,

and Pune), metro, trans-harbour, CSR engagementsof U.S. companies, fintech, smart cities (Nagpur,Aurangabad,Nashik),skilldevelopmentandtheneedtointegratetodevelopindustrialtownships,etc.ThemeetingconcludedwithAMCHAMthankingtheHon’bleCMforhisvaluabletimeandsupporttoU.S.industryinIndia.

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HYDERABADHyderabad Chapter Executive Committee

The Hyderabad Chapter Executive Committee met onDecember12thtoplanforAnnualDayandtoreviewthesportsprogram.ItwasdecidedtohaveAnnualDayon

February23rd2018atWestinMindspace.Theeventsfortheupcomingmonthsalsowasdiscussed.

Dr.KiranamaiPendyala,Chairperson-HyderabadChapter,AMCHAM,givingthewelcomeaddressatAnnualDay2018inHyderabad,seatedonthedais:Ms.SuchitraElla,Co-founder,BharatBiotech,ConsulGeneralKatherineHadda,U.S.ConsulateGeneral,andDr.KrishnaElla,FounderandMDBharatBiotech

Budget ConnectAMCHAM organized ‘Budget Connect’ in associationwithErnst&YoungattheWestinonFebruary2nd,2018.There was a presentation on two major points: directtax proposals which included individual tax proposals,changes and benefits; measures to stimulate growth– promotion of start-ups, levy of distribution tax, long

term capital gain etc.; proposals to generate revenueswhichtouchedoncommoditytransactiontaxation,digitaleconomy taxation etc. and rationalization measures.Indirecttaxproposalswhichincludedincentivizing‘Makein India,’power toconductauditanddispute resolutionmeasures.

Hyderabad Chapter Members Meet

AMCHAM’sHyderabadChapter held aMembersMeetonFebruary5thattheWestintoelectthenewChairmanandViceChairmanfortheHyderabadChapterandplan

the way forward. Mr. Shashidhar Reddy of QualcommwaselectedtheChairmanandMr.PrakashBodlaofUTCHRDCwaselectedtheViceChairman.

Annual Day 2018On23rdFebruary2018, theAnnualDayofAMCHAM’sHyderabad Chapter commenced with a welcomedanceby the team fromDSTWorldwide services. Thiswas followed by Dr. Kiranmai Pendyala, Chairperson– Hyderabad Chapter, AMCHAM, giving the welcomeaddress and an overview of the activities of AMCHAMduring the past year. She encouragedmembers to be

actively involved inAMCHAMactivities.ConsulGeneralKatherine Hadda, U.S. Consulate Hyderabad, spokeon the warm relationship between AMCHAM and theConsulateandalsothestrengtheningofIndo–U.S.ties.Ms.SuchitraandDr.KrishnaEllaspokeontheirjourneyinhealthcare.

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Consul General Hadda presenting an award to Mr. VLaxmikanth,NEBMember,AMCHAMandMDBroadridge,forbeingtheoldestplayerinAMCHAMSports2017

Mr. Shashi Reddy, Vice Chairman - Hyderabad Chapter,AMCHAM, felicitating Mr. Nimmagada Prasad, a socialentrepreneur

BandperformancebySynchronyFinancial

TeamfromSumTotalperforming

ThewinnersandrunnersupofthevarioussportingeventsheldduringtheperiodSeptember2017toJanuary2018received prizes fromguests –Dr. Suchitra, Dr. KrishnaEllaandMr.NimmagadaPrasad.Mr.ShashiReddy,ViceChairman – Hyderabad Chapter, AMCHAM, thankedall the sponsors and the employees of the membercompanies(DST,CDK,AMD,SumTotalandSynchrony)forsuchwonderfulperformances.TheeveningconcludedwithabandperformancebySynchronyFinancial.

TeamfromCDKGlobalperforming

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KOLKATAEastern Region Executive Committee Meeting

Mr.DebdasSen,Chairman–EasternRegion,AMCHAMchairedtheExecutiveCommitteemeetingonNovember15th,2017.ThefocusofthemeetingwasthetwomajorupcomingEasternRegionevents—November20th,2017—anaddressbytheHonourableDr.PranabMukherjeeon‘InclusiveGrowth’andtheannualEasternRegionget-

togetherformembers.Mr.SenupdatedmembersonbotheventsandRegionalDirector,Ms.AmadaKidwai,walkedthemembers through the proceedings of the event onNovember20th,2017.ThemeetingwashostedbyTCGDigitalSolutions.

Eastern Region Annual Signature Event on Inclusive Growth

AMCHAM’sEasternRegionhostedthe13thPresidentofIndia,theHonorableDr.PranabMukherjeeattheiconicheritage hotel The Lalit, Great Eastern on November20th, 2017 over high tea. Dr. Mukherjee addressedAMCHAMmembers,businessleadersandmembersofthediplomaticcommunityoninclusivegrowth.HespokeaboutAMCHAMandtheworkthatitcovers.HesaidthatAMCHAM India, though still a very young organizationjust completed 25 years, its growth had contributed to

enhanceU.S.tradeandindustryinIndiabycontributingtothesuccessofU.S.companiesoperatinginthecountry.HesaidAMCHAMadvocatesforanequitable,transparentandpredictableoperatingenvironmentintradebetweentheU.S. and India, and thatU.S. companies operatingin Indiacontributed to information technology, industrialgoods,retailandconsumerproducts,financialservices,pharmaceuticals and healthcare, among others. ThisalsocreatedemploymentopportunitiesinIndia.

(L-R)Mr.GulshanSachdev,ViceChairman,AMCHAM,presentingtheHonorableDr.PranabMukherjeewithatokenofappreciation,alongwithMr.DebdasSen,Chairman–EasternRegion,AMCHAM

Dr.Mukherjeesaidthatthelastfewyearshasseenglobalunanimityontheneedtoachieveamoreholisticapproachfor economic growth, which is increasingly regardedasaprerequisite tosustainabledevelopment.While the

ideaofattainingasocially-inclusiveapproachhastakenwind,thepastdecadehasseenonlylimitedprogressindevelopinga targetedand tangible framework todirectpolicy and reforms. He said that the new world has

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increasinglybeingdistinguishedbyaswellinginclinationtoward disruptive technological base, however, he saidthatwhatisrequiredisageneralconsensusonmappinga differential path which goes beyond the standardmonetary and fiscal measures that can systematicallyresolve the issue of slow growth and rising inequality.Hementionedthatbygoingbypastexperiments,manycountrieshavefailed insatisfyingsocialexpectations inthisregard.Itis,however,importanttounderstandwhatinclusive growth is. Dr. Mukherjee said that inclusivegrowth is not restricted to transactional behavior with

which businesses work, but there exists an exchangerelationshipbetweengeneraleconomicgrowthandwell-beingwhichincludeseducation,healthandredistribution.Itisimportanttorecognizethatthereareseveralstructuralaspectsthatinfluencethescopeofsocialparticipation.Hesaidthatnationsthathaveeffectivelyincludeditsmiddleclass innationbuilding,havebeenefficient in reducingpoverty andmitigatingmarginalization of certain socialclasseshavealsotendedtodevelopeffectiveeconomicinstitutionsandpolicyincentives.

Hesaidthat,inclusivegrowthisanessentialelementthatdefinesasustainablegrowthpathfortheeconomyandencompassesnot just top-linegrowthbutalso involvesexpansion of economic opportunity to marginalizedsections of the society, providing them with means toeducation,healthandequalopportunity.Foradevelopingnation like India, this continues to remain a majorchallenge where income disparities remain a growingconcern.Closeto600millionpeoplelivinginruralIndiaremainoutside thescopeof inclusivegrowthandhavebeenlargelyside-linedfromparticipatinginbroad-basedeconomicgrowth.Amajorchallenge for India,which isexpectedtoseeaboominworkingagepopulation,isto

chalkoutplanstoattainoptimalgrowththatisachievednotonlythroughall-inclusiveparticipationbutalsoseepstoallsectionofthesociety.However,inclusivegrowthisnotjustbasedonprovidingnecessaryinfrastructureandequalopportunity,butisalsobasedonamultidimensionalapproachtowardseducationandskillsdevelopment.

Mr.DebdasSen,Chairman–EasternRegion,AMCHAM,formally introduced the Honorable Dr. Mukherjee, Mr.GulshanSachdev,ViceChairman,AMCHAM,proposedthevoteofthanksandclosingnote.Ms.AmadaKidwai,RegionalDirector–EasternRegion,AMCHAM,gavethewelcomeremarks.

(L-Rbackrow)ConsulGeneralCraigHall,U.S.ConsulateKolkata,Mr.K.P.Sengupta,PastChairman–EasternRegion,AMCHAM,Ms.AmadaKidwai,RegionalDirector–EasternRegion,AMCHAM,Ms.BirgitHolm,ExecutiveCommitteeMember,Mr.DineshAgarwal,FormerChairman–EasternRegion,Mr.SurajitBanerjee,FormerChairman–EasternRegion,Mr.AbirChattaraj,ExecutiveCommitteeMember,Mr.RanjanNandi,ExecutiveCommitteeMember(L-Rfrontrow)Mr.GulshanSachdev,ViceChairman,AMCHAM,HonorableDr.PranabMukherjee,andMr.DebdasSen,Chairman–EasternRegion,AMCHAM

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Eastern Region Annual Get-Together

AMCHAM’sEasternRegionhad itsannualget-togetherovercocktailsanddinnerattheTollygungeClubon7thDecember2017.Theeveningbroughttogethermembers,friendsandsupporters,includinggovernmentofficials,ofAMCHAM’sEasternRegion.U.S.ConsulGeneralCraigHallattendedalongwithhisteamfromtheU.S.Consulate.Consul General Hall spoke on the importance of U.S.

– India relations. Mr.DebdasSen,Chairman–EasternRegion, AMCHAM,gave the opening remarks andMs.Amada Kidwai, Regional Director – Eastern Region,AMCHAM,gave the introduction.Theeveningprovidedmembers and guests an opportunity to network witheachother,governmentofficialsandtheU.S.Consulateofficialsinaninformalgathering.

EasternRegionmemberswithMr.DebdasSen,Chairman-Eastern Region, AMCHAM and Consul General Craig Hall,U.S.ConsulateKolkata

(L-R)Ms.AmadaKidwai,RegionalDirector-EasternRegion,AMCHAM, Mr. Ajay Bandopadhyay, Partner, Infrastructure,Government and Healthcare, KPMG, Mr. Surajit Banrrjee,ManagingDirector,Fi-Tex,Mr.DineshAgarwal,Partner-TaxandRegulatoryServices,EY,Mr.AmitMallik,ViceChairman- EasternRegion, AMCHAMandManagingDirector, PublicSector & Services, India & SAARC, CISCO, Mr. JonathanWard,PrincipalOfficer,U.S.CommercialService,Mr.DebdasSen,Chairman - Eastern Region, AMCHAMandCEO TCGDigitalSolutions

Ms.LeeAlisonSibleysingingaTagoresongandenthrallingthe audience at the Eastern Region annual get-together inKolkata

AMCHAM supported the Bengal Global Business Summit 2018

AMCHAM India, and itsEasternRegion, supported theGovernmentofWestBengaltoattractU.S.investorstodobusinessinthestate.Asapreludetotheevent,onJanuary15th, the Honorable Chief Minister Mamta Banerjeehostedadinner fordelegates,chambersofcommerce,industry, diplomats and government at the Eco Park.

Thisgavethegueststheopportunityfornetworkingandto have informal discussions. At the dinner, delegates,members of chambers, including AMCHAMmembers,got the opportunity to meet with the Chief Minister,FinanceMinister,AdditionalChiefSecretariesandseniorgovernmentofficials.

Thesummitwasheldon16th-17thJanuaryinKolkata.Attheinauguralsession,atthebrandnewConventionCenteratRajarhat,Mr.MukashAmbani,praisedtheleadershipoftheHonorableChiefMinisterandsaidthatWestBengalwas now ‘Best Bengal’ andwas one of the states thatease of doing business was a reality and consideredWestBengal tobeamong thebest.HecommittedRs.5,000 crore in non Jio investment over the next threeyears.Amongstthevariousinvestmentannouncements,some of which were from the JSW Group, RP SanjivGroup,Adventz, amongst others. TheChiefMinister, inherconcludingremarksat thecloseof theevent,citiedthat preliminary estimate of investment proposals wereRs.2.19,925crorethatwouldcreatearound20lakhjobs.

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AMCHAM'sEasternRegionmembersatanon-the-spotbudgetanalysiswithEY

AMCHAM’s Eastern Region hosted a roundtablediscussionwithMr.RobertGarverick,MinisterCounselorfor Economic, Environment, Science and TechnologyAffairs,U.S.EmbassyinKolkataonJanuary25th,2018.Mr. Joydeep Datta Gupta, Eastern Region ExecutiveCommittee Member, AMCHAM and Partner, DeloitteTouché Tohmatsu India LLP welcomed Mr. Garverick.AMCHAM members briefed Mr. Garverick on thepresenceofAmericancompanies in the regionandonthe opportunities and challenges of doing business in

WestBengalandEastern India, touchingon issues likeavailability of land, labor, and the general investmentclimate in the region. Members present spoke aboutBengalbeingaresourceforwell-educatedtalentinIndiaand abroad. They endorsed the rating by the centralgovernment that Bengal has been positioned as theleadingstateoneaseofdoingbusinessinIndia.Membersalso discussed challenges related to IPR protection insoftware,amongstothers.

Roundtable on U.S. Business and Ease of Doing Business in the Eastern Region with Mr. Robert Garverick, Minister Counselor for Economic, Environment, Science and Technology Affairs, U.S. Embassy

On-the-Spot Budget Analysis with Knowledge Partner Ernst & Young

The live viewing and interactive session on budget2018 was organized by AMCHAM’s Eastern Region, inassociation with EY as the knowledge partner, on 1stFebruary 2018 at the EY Kolkata office. The sessionstartedwith inaugural remarkson theexpectedbudget

proposals given by Mr. Dinesh Agarwal, Partner, Tax& Regulatory Services, EY, followed by live viewing ofthe budget 2018 speech delivered by Hon’ble FinanceMinister,Mr.ArunJaitley.

Posttheliveviewingofthespeech,openingremarksonthebudgetproposalsweregivenbyMr.K.P.Senguptaon the impact of budget proposals on the economyfromamacroperspective.Thesamewasthenfollowedby a debriefing from Mr. Dinesh Agarwal and otherrepresentativesfromEYonvarioustaxproposals.

Mr. Dinesh Agarwal said it is awell packaged budget,managing expectations from most quarters. Budgetproposals announced by the Finance Minister largelydeliver on the populist agenda with continued focuson agriculture, poor, healthcare, women, infrastructure,socialsecurity,andgovernance.Mr.DineshAgarwalalsohighlightedthefollowinginter-aliakeyannouncements:

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• Reduction in corporate tax rate on all companieswith turnoverofup to INR250crores is in linewiththepromisemadein2015andtherevenueforgonethroughtheproposedreductionseemstobeoffsetby introduction of long tax capital gain tax@10%fromsaleof listedsecuritieswithoutgivingeffectofindexation(ifsuchincomeismorethanINR100,000and subject to grandfathering provisions) andincrease in the education cess fromexisting 3% tohealthandeducationcessof4%

• Standarddeduction(INR40,000perannum) in lieuof medical expense reimbursement (INR 15,000per annum) and transport allowance (INR 19,200per annum) for salary income earners has beenreintroduced offering a net benefit of INR 5,800 tosalariedtaxpayers

• Thegovernmenthasalsobroughtcheertothesenior

citizens by enhanced medical insurance premiumdeduction from existing INR 30,000 to INR 50,000,increaseinexpensedeductionforcriticalcareillnessfromexisting limitof INR60,000 to INR100,000 forseniorcitizensandfromexisting limitof INR80,000to INR 100,000 for super senior citizens aswell asincreasingdeductionfortaxfreeinterestincomefromalltypesofbankaccountsfromexistingINR10,000toINR50,000

• Roll out of e-assessment across the country bynotifying a new scheme of assessment throughelectronicmodeisinlineswiththegovernmentvisionof Digital India andwould also eliminate person topersoncontactbetweenthetaxofficialandtaxpayerwhichwouldbringabouttransparencyinthesystem

The interactive session was concluded with a vote ofthankstoparticipantsfromMr.DineshAgarwal.

Interactive Session with U.S. Ambassador to India, Kenneth I. Juster

On February 7, AMCHAM’s Eastern Region, inpartnershipwiththeBengalChamberofCommerceandIndustry (BCCI) hosted the U.S. Ambassador to Indiaforaninteractivesessionwithmembersofthebusinesscommunity,thinktanksandpress.

Ambassador Juster, in his address, thanked AMCHAMandtheBCCIforhostinghimonhisfirstbusinessaddressinKolkata.HemainlyfocusedontheU.S.government’s

Indo-Pacificstrategy, theU.S.-Indiapartnershipandthebilateral economic relationship, a cornerstone of theU.S.–Indiastrategicpartnership.HementionedhowtheU.S. Indo-Pacific strategy reflects the growing range ofshared interests between both countries and a naturalcomplement to India’s ‘Act East’ policy. The U.S.-Indiastrategic partnership was designed to strengthen bothcountriesandtohaveabeneficialimpactontheregion.

(L-R)AmbassadorKennethI.Juster,U.S.AmbassadortoIndia,Mr.GulshanSachdev,ViceChairman,AMCHAM,Mr.B.B.Chatterjee,SeniorVicePresident,BCCI,Mr.DebdasSen,Chairman-EasternRegion,AMCHAM,ConsulGeneralCraigHall,U.S.ConsulateGeneralKolkataandMr.DebA.Mukherjee,VicePresident,BCCI

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Eastern Regionmembers, alongwithMr. Debdas Sen, Chairman - Eastern Region, AMCHAM,with officials from the ICTDivision,GovernmentofBangladesh

The Ambassador touched upon the enormousopportunities in the energy sector. The United Statesis uniquely positioned to offer India a comprehensiveenergypartnershipwhichincludesallformsofenergy–

Ambassador Juster addressing AMCHAM members andbusinessleadersinKolkata

Mr.GulshanSachdev,ViceChairman,AMCHAM,introducingAmbassadorJusterataneventinKolkata

Lay’sstate-of-the-artpotatoprocessingplant.

Mr. Gulshan Sachdev, Vice Chairman – AMCHAMintroduced Ambassador Juster. Mr. B. B. Chatterjee,SeniorVicePresident,BCCI,gavethewelcomeremarks.Mr.DebdasSen,Chairman–EasternRegion,AMCHAM,moderated the Q&A. Mr. Deb A. Mukherjee, VicePresident,BCCI,gavethevoteofthanks.

Investment Opportunity Session with the ICT Division of the Government of Bangladesh

On15thFebruary2018,AMCHAM’sEasternRegion, inpartnershipwith the ICTDivision of theGovernment ofBangladesh, hosted an investment opportunity sessionattheHyattRegencyinKolkata.Thedaystartedwithone-onemeetingswiththeBangladeshteamofofficialsandcompaniesthatwerelookingforopportunitiestoinvestinBangladesh and culminatedwith a dinner presentationby the Government of Bangladesh. The presentationshowcased the initiative the government took to boost

growth in its ICT sector under the umbrella of the‘DigitalBangladesh’campaign.This‘StrategicOutreachProgram’ was aimed to highlight the Bangladesh ICTindustry value proposition to top global companies –specifically in the ITand ITeSsector. Itemphasized therichtalentpool,relativelylowcostbase,rapidlygrowingIT infrastructure anda strongdemographicdividend tocreatearobustvalueproposition.

coal, crudeoil, naturalgas,andnuclearpower,aswellas, technologyrelatedtoclean fossil fuels,smartgrids,energystorage,andrenewableresources.

Ambassador Juster emphasized that theU.S.businesspresence in eastern India with close to 200 Americancompaniesoperatingintheeasternregionthroughdirectinvestments, joint venture partnerships, distributorships

anddealerships,andfranchiseeandlicenseagreements.These U.S. businesses operate in a range of sectors,including information technology, with companies suchasCognizant and IBM and food processing, with Frito

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The dinner was presided over by the ICT Secretary,Mr. Subir Kishore Chowdhury, Government ofBangladeshandhisteamandattendedbymajorIT/ITeScompanies fromKolkata.Mr.DebdasSen,Chairman–Eastern Region, AMCHAM did the introductions andwelcomedthedelegation.Mr.SubirKishoreChoudhury,

Secretary ICT Division gave the keynote address andMr. Sami Ahmed, Component Team Leader (IT/ITES),LICTProject,madethepresentationandQ&AonDigitalBangladesh. The session concludedwith a networkingsessionoverdinner.

Eastern Region Executive Committee Meeting

Mr.DebdasSen,Chairman–EasternRegion,AMCHAM,chaired the ExecutiveCommitteemeeting on February20th, 2018 in Kolkata. The focus of the meeting wasforthcomingeventsthroughApril2018.Healsoupdatedmembers on events that the region had hosted orparticipated insincethe lastmeetingheld inNovember2017.Hesaidtheregionhaddonearecordnumberofhighlevelfocusedeventsandthatalltheeventswereverywellattended.Hementionedthesignatureeventoninclusivegrowth with the former President of India, Dr. PranabMukherjee,AnnualGet-TogetherwhereanumberofIASofficersandIPSofficersattendedprovidedmembersan

opportunity to interactivewith government officials in asocialsetting, theBengalGlobalBusinessSummitandU.S. Ambassadors interactive session with AMCHAMmembers,inpartnershipwithBCCI,whichreceivedwidemedia coverage. He also updated members on thesessionAMCHAMorganizedinpartnershipwiththeICTDivisionof theGovernmentofBangladeshonFebruary15th,2018. Hesaid that thiswas thefirst time that theregionhadhostedaneventof thisnatureandsaid thatmembercompanieswhoparticipatedfounditveryhelpfulanduseful.The‘OntheSpotBudgetAnalysis2018’wasalsoheld.

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BANGALORE

The fourth meeting of AMCHAM’s National ExecutiveBoard was held on February 7th, 2018 in Bengaluru,under the chairmanship of Mr. Pratyush Kumar,Chairman,AMCHAMIndia,andPresident,BoeingIndia.Mr.IqbalSait,Chairman–KarnatakaChapter,AMCHAM

National Executive Board MeetingIndiaandHeadofEMEAOperations,Saggezza,madeapresentationontheactivitiesoftheKarnatakaChapter.Mr.HiteshD.Gajaria,Partner,KPMG.madeapresentationondirecttaxproposalsinUnionBudget2018totheNEB,alongwithMr.SachinMenon,whocoveredindirecttaxes.

National Executive Board meeting in progress under theChairmanship ofMr. PratyushKumar, President, Boeing, attheSaggezzaofficeinBengaluru

Mr.R.V.Deshpande,MinisterforLarge&MediumIndustries,Government of Karnataka, addressing AMCHAM’sNationalExecutiveBoardmembersatVidhanaSoudha

AMCHAM NEB members and U.S. Embassy officialsaddressing the Honorable Chief Minister of Karnataka, Mr.Siddaramaiah

AMCHAM'sNationalExecutiveBoardmeetinginprogressattheSaggezzaoffice

Meeting with Mr. R. V. Deshpande, Minister for Large & Medium Industries, Government of Karnataka

On February 7th, 2018, the AMCHAM India delegationled by Mr. Pratyush Kumar, Chairman, AMCHAM andPresident,BoeingIndia,metwithMinisterR.V.Deshpande.TheMinisterwelcomedthedelegationandassuredU.S.companiesthatthegovernmentwouldsupporttheminalltheinvestmentsinthestate.Mr.PratyushKumarthankedtheministerformeetingthemandraisedaconcernoverthe state of infrastructure and hoped that it would beimproved soon, as it would increase investments fromU.S.companiesinthestate.

National Executive Board Interaction with the Honorable Chief Minister of Karnataka, Mr. Siddaramaiah

On7thFebruary,theNationalExecutiveBoardmembersof AMCHAMmet with the Chief Minister of Karnataka,Mr. Siddaramaiah, in Bengaluru. Mr. Pratyush Kumar,Chairman, AMCHAM and President, Boeing India,thankedtheChiefMinister forhistimeandsupportandemphasized that AMCHAM members were committedto Karnataka. Members introduced themselves andhighlightedtheirfootprintinthestate.

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NEBmembers,KarnatakaChapterExecutiveCommitteemembers,ConsulGeneralBurgessandU.S.EmbassyofficialswiththeChiefMinisterofKarnataka,Mr.SiddaramaiahandMr.R.V.Deshpande,MinisterforLarge&MediumIndustries,GovernmentofKarnataka

(L-R)ConsulGeneralRobertBurgess,U.S.ConsulateChennai,Mr. Iqbal Sait, Chairman - Karnataka Chapter, AMCHAMandHeadofEMEAOperations,Saggezza,Mr.AzimPremji,Chairman Wipro Ltd. and Mr. Pratyush Kumar, Chairman,AMCHAMandPresident,BoeingIndia,thankingMr.Premji

Mr. R.V. Deshpande, Minister for Medium & HeavyIndustries, Government of Karnataka, touched on thereadily available human resources, skill training anddevelopmentbeingdoneby thegovernment, andCSR

projects in education and healthcare. Consul GeneralRobert Burgess, U.S. Consulate General Chennai,mentioned the 50,000 American citizens that live inBengaluruandthegrowthintheU.S.–Indiarelationship.

Karnataka Chapter Signature Event ‘The Indo - U.S. Partnership’

AMCHAM’s Karnataka Chapter hosted AMCHAM’sNational Executive Board members, led by Chairman,Mr. Pratyush Kumar, President, Boeing India, U.S.Embassy officials and members on Wednesday,February7th,2018,attheLeelaPalace,Bengaluru.Theeveningstartedwithapaneldiscussionon‘InnovationinManufacturing’moderatedbyMr.SanjayKoul,Chairman–ManufacturingCommittee,AMCHAMandChairman&Managing Director, Timken India Ltd. with Mr. MuneshMakhija, Managing Director, GE India TechnologyCenter and Mr. Lakshminarayan. This was followed byascintillatingpresentationbyMr.BirenGhose,CountryHead,TechnicolorIndia,abouttheHollywood-Bengaluruconnection. ThekeynotespeakerwasMr.AzimPremji,Chairman Wipro Limited, who mentioned his years ofexperience with Indo-U.S. relations. Consul General

RobertBurgess fromtheU.S.Consulate,Chennai,alsoaddressedtheaudience.Theeventendedwithcocktailsanddinner.TheplatinumsponsorsfortheeveningwereFragomenImmigrationServicesandRMZCorp.

TheAMCHAMNationalExecutiveBoardandKarnatakaChapterExecutiveCommitteememberswithkeynotespeakerfortheevening,Mr.AzimPremji,ChairmanWiproLtd.,inBengaluru

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Exclusive Workshop on Design Thinking for the C’Suite on ‘Executing Strategy on Design Thinking in a VUCA World’ with Strategy Execution and Duke Corporate Education

AMCHAM India, in association with Strategy ExecutionandDukeCorporateEducation,conductedanexclusiveworkshop on “Design Thinking in a VUCA World” inBengaluru,on7thMarch2018,at theJ.W.Marriott.Thespeakers includedMr. Nikhil Raval,ManagingDirector,Duke CE andMr. Ajay Parasrampuria, Design Thinker.The key takeaway was an overview of how to deploydesign thinking for results in today’s VUCA (volatile,uncertain,complexandambiguous)world.Thespeakerstalkedabouthowto(i) jump-startaninnovationculture;(ii) visualize new or improved product and servicesthat a company could offer; and (iii)make the offeringmore desirable, feasible, viable and dependable. Theparticipants gained an understanding of executingstrategythroughdesignthinkinginaVUCAenvironment;customer focused thinking and reframing of what one

sees; leading a collaborative process for ideation andinnovation;andpitching, informingandimproving ideasforsuccess.

ParticipantsatanexclusiveworkshopondesignthinkingfortheC'Suiteon‘ExecutingStrategyonDesignThinkinginaVUCAWorld’withStrategyExecutionandDukeCorporateEducation

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CHENNAI

AMCHAM’s Tamil Nadu Chapter held a breakfastmeetingonartificial intelligenceentitled‘Whytherecentexcitement in artificial intelligence? An introductionto deep reinforcement learning’ on 8th November atthe Hotel Westin in Chennai. The guest speaker wasProfessorDr.B.Ravindran,Head–RobertBoschCentre

forDataScienceandArtificialIntelligence(RBC-DSAI)&Associate Professor, Department of Computer ScienceandEngineering, IITMadras. Themeetingwaschairedby Mr. Rajan Aiyer, Country Head, Trimble InformationTechnologies,India.

Breakfast Meeting on Artificial Intelligence

Mr.RajanAiyer,ViceChairman-TamilNaduChapter,AMCHAMand Managing Director, Trimble Technologies, welcomingmembersforthebreakfast

Prof.B.RavindranofIITMadrasaddressingAMCHAM'sTamilNaduChaptermembersonartificialintelligence

ThemeetingbeganwithawelcomebyMr.RajanAiyer,Vice Chairman – Tamil Nadu Chapter, AMCHAM, whointroducedtheguestspeakerProfessorB.Ravindran.

Prof. Ravindran began by saying that humans excel atsolvingawidevarietyofchallengingproblems,fromlow-levelmotorcontrolthroughtohigh-levelcognitivetasks.Thegoalofdeepmindhesaid,istocreateartificialagentsthat can achieve a similar level of performance andgenerality.Likeahuman,ouragentslearnforthemselvestoachievesuccessfulstrategiesthatleadtothegreatestlong-termrewards.Thisparadigmoflearningbytrial-and-error, solely from rewardsorpunishments, is knownasreinforcementlearning(RL).Alsolikeahuman,AIagentsconstruct and learn their own knowledge directly fromrawinputs,suchasvision,withoutanyhand-engineeredfeaturesordomainheuristics.This isachievedbydeeplearningofneuralnetworks.Deepmindhaspioneeredthecombinationoftheseapproaches–deepreinforcementlearning – to create the first artificial agents to achievehuman-level performance across many challengingdomains. Reinforcement learning (RL) methods haveachievedsignificantsuccessesrecentlybymarryingthe

representationlearningpowerofdeepnetworksandthecontrollearningabilitiesofRL.Thishasresultedinsomeof themost significant recentbreakthroughs inartificialintelligencesuchastheAtarigameplayerandtheAlphaGo engine from Deepmind. This success has openednew lines of research and revived old ones in the RLcommunity.

In his presentation Dr. B. Ravindran introduced thereinforcement learning paradigm and briefly review theprogressmadeindeepRL.HispresentationinaneasytounderstandformattoanAIignorantaudiencetomotivatetheconceptsthroughpracticalexamplesusingthedigitalgamingplatform.

Prof. Ravindran said that Artificial Intelligence (AI) isthe branch of computer science which deals with theintelligenceofmachines,wherean intelligentagent isasystem that takes actions whichmaximize its chancesof success. He added that the central principles ofAI include reasoning, knowledge, planning, learning,communication,perceptionandtheability tomoveandmanipulateobjects.AIisthescienceofmakingintelligentmachines,especiallyintelligentcomputerprograms.

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Participantsatabreakfastmeetingonartificialintelligence

AI has many varied applications such as in finance –all banking operations; pharmaceuticals and medicine– cardiology, neurology, embryology, development ofnewdrugs,clinicalstudies,remotesurgicalprocedures,etc.; gaming – computerised video games; informationmanagementandretrieval;AIexpertsystemsembeddedin products; help desk assistance; HR – employeeperformance evaluation; supply chain and logistics;marketing: satellite controls; network developments;

military activity controls – smart bombs, unmanneddrones, decoding of enemy secret codes; nuclearpowerstationmanagement;climatechange–advancedweathermodelling,dopplerradar;industrialapplications– machine vision inspection systems, robotic systems;telecommunications;music;cybersecurity;etc.Thislistisnotexhaustive.Mostconsumerproductsandautomobilesavailable todayhavesome levelofAIembedded in theoperatingsystem.

Prof. Ravindran also said that robotics is amajor fieldrelatedtoAI.Roboticsrequireintelligencetohandletaskssuchasobjectmanipulationandnavigation,alongwithlocalization,motionplanningandmapping.

Speaking onmachine learning, the Professor said thatthisisanothercorepartofAI.Machineperceptiondealswith thecapability tousesensory inputs todeduce thedifferentaspectsoftheworld,whilecomputervisionisthepowertoanalysevisualinputssuchasfacial,objectandgesturerecognition.

DuringtheinteractivesessionProf.Ravindranrespondedtosomeofthequestionssuchas:Willtherecomeapoint

whencomputersbecometoo intelligent?Shouldrobotshave thesame legal rightsashumans?Howwouldweget around the question of ownership? To what extentshouldwetrustorpredictthebehaviourofrobots?Woulditbewrongtodeliberatelyinstallmechanismsthatgavehumansan immediatephysical advantage, suchas anon/offswitch?

The meeting concluded with Mr. Rajan Aiyer thankingProfessorRavindranfortheveryenlighteningpresentationon artificial intelligence. Prof. Ravindran welcomedmemberstovisit IIT–Madrasfor furtherdiscussionsorcollaborativeprojectsonartificialintelligence.

Breakfast Meeting on the Impact of Union Budget 2018 on the Manufacturing and Technology Sectors

OnFebruary5th2018,AMCHAM’sTamilNaduChapter,with Deloitte at the knowledge parter, held a breakfastmeeting on the impact of Union Budget 2018 on the

manufacturing and technology sectors at the HotelWestininChennai.ThemeetingwaschairedbyMr.RajanAiyer, Vice Chairman – Tamil NaduChapter, AMCHAM

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and Country Head, Trimble Information Technologies,India.ThemeetingbeganwithanoverviewoftheUnionBudget2018byMr.P.S.Easwaran,PartnerConsulting,Deloitte inChennai.Mr.Easwaransaid that thebudget

represents prudent management as the focus wasclearlyonenhancingthehealthandoverallstatusoftheworkforce.

(Left)Mr. Rajan Aiyer, ViceChariman - Tamil NaduChapter,AMCHAM and Managing Director & Country Head, TrimbleInformationTechnologiesIndiaPvt.Ltd.

Participants at the breakfast meeting on 'Impact of UnionBudget2018ontheManufacturing&TechnologySectors'

The government’s agenda of ‘transform, reform andperform’ in the budget focused on implementationof the recent reforms. Hence there were no big bangannouncements. The budget addressed needs ofagriculturalsectorandMSMEs,throughwhichagendaofinclusivegrowth,formalizationofeconomyandboostofemploymentgenerationweretargeted.TheFM’spromiseof reducing the corporate tax rate from 30%to 25% forcompanies remained limited to theMSMEs leaving thelargetaxpayers towait foranotheryear.However,99%ofMSME’swith turnoverofup to INR250croreswouldbenefit from the rate reduction.Unfortunately, the largecorporateswillnowcarryaslightlyhighertaxburdenfromanincreasecessof1%.Rationalizationoflongtermcapitalgain taxationmaybe inopportune in termsof timingastheirabilitytoraisefundsthroughIPOsandFPOsmaybeimpactedduetomarketsentimentschanging.

Mr.Easwaransaidthatthebudgetwaspresentedagainstthe backdrop of slower economic growth, rising crudeoilpricesandgrowingprotectionist tendencies insomecountries.TheGDPgrowthforthecurrentfiscalyear(April2017toMarch2018)wasestimatedtobearound6.5%ascomparedtothegrowthrateofover7%registeredinthelast3financialyears.Theslowereconomicgrowthwasgenerallyattributedtotherecentboldreformsundertakenby the government including implementation of goodsand services tax (GST) regime to replace the multiple

indirecttaxesanddemonetization.Mr.Easwaranaddedthat theIndianRailwayswaspotentiallyagrowthsectorandhasasubstantiallyhigher focuson ‘make in India.’Railwayproductionunitshavenowembarkedonuseoftechnologyandinnovationratherthanjustmetalworking.On inflation, he stated that itwouldbe in the regionof6%andcorporateswereadvisedtobudgetforaslightlyhigherrateofinflation.

ThesessionondirecttaxeswaspresentedbyMr.RajeshSrinivasanwhosaidthatonpersonaltaxationtherewasnochange in incomeslabs, tax ratesorsurcharge.Onother direct taxes he said, the education cess of 3%wasnowsubstitutedwiththehealthandeducationcessof 4%; withdrawal from NPS – 40% of the withdrawalsfromNationalPensionSystem(NPS)wastaxexemptforemployees.Thishasnowbeenextendedtoallassesses.Standard deduction of INR 40,000 or the amount ofsalaryreceived,whicheverisless,hasbeenintroduced.Exemptions currently available for transport allowanceamountingtoINR19,200perannumandreimbursementofmedicalexpensesamountingtoINR15,000perannumwere proposed to be withdrawn. Transport allowanceexemptionfordifferentlyabledpersonstocontinue.Theother proposals were: increased deductions for healthinsurance and treatment relating to senior citizens;benefits toseniorcitizensandPFcontributions fornewemploymentforthosedrawinguptoRs12,000permonth.

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Highlights on Corporate Tax included:

Thecorporatetaxratereducedto25%(plusapplicablesurchargeandcess) fordomesticcompanieswith totalturnover or gross receipts not exceeding INR 2,500million for assessment year 2017-18.Education cessof3%removedandreplacedbyhealthandeducationcessof4%scopeofaccumulatedprofitswidenedforpurposesof deemed dividend; for non-residents, the provisionsof section 115JB would not be applicable when theincomeiscomputedonpresumptivebasisintermsoftheprovisionsofsection44B,section44BB,section44BBAorsection44BBB.

The definition of the term “business connection” undersection9proposed tobeexpandedandaligned to thescope of agency PE under the BEPS/MLI provisions.Business connection to include significant economicpresence – significant economic presence shallmean:transaction in respect of goods, services or propertycarriedoutbyanon-residentinIndiaincludingprovisionfor download of data or software in India (if paymentsexceed threshold to be prescribed); or systematic andcontinuoussolicitingofitsbusinessactivitiesorengagingininteractionwithnumberofusers(asmaybeprescribed),in India throughdigitalmeans–theexistingtaxtreatieswould not be impacted by the concept of significanteconomicpresence, however attemptswill bemade toincludethisconceptinthefutureIndiantaxtreaties.

Budget proposals for manufacturing and technology—- inamovetoboost localvalueaddition indomesticelectronics manufacturing, customs duty on mobilephones have been raised from 15% to 20%while dutyon smart watches and wearables has been doubledto 20%. The budget outlines 372 point plan for statesfor promoting the ease of doing business. The centralgovernment will evaluate the performance of statessupportedbyfeedbackfromindustry.Lookingahead,thegovernmentistargetingtobeamongthetop-50countriesintheoveralleaseofdoingbusinessrankings.

Thebudgetproposalshaveanimpactonmanufacturingthrough direct demand generation and increasedconsumer demand through its focus on rural Indiaespeciallythefisheries,animalhusbandryandagriculturesectors.ThebudgetproposalsaimedtoincreaseincomelevelsinruralIndiawhichwillreflectinincreasedsalesingoodssuchasmopedsandwashingmachines.

With the introduction of GST, there were not many taxproposalsinindirecttaxation.AndallchangestotheGSTwasbeingdonethroughtheGSTCouncil.ThemeetingconcludedwithMr.RajanAiyerthankingDeloittefortheverydetailedpresentation.

Corporate Members

Additional Members

AMCHAM Welcomes New Members

Mr. Sethu SeetharamanChief Risk OfficerMphasis Limited

Mr. Abhijit ShahManaging Director

Walter P Moore Engineering India Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. Puneet KumarManaging Director

Accenture Solutions India Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. Balaji ShankarHTS – CFO, India

Honeywell Technologies Solutions Lab

Mr. Michael GreenGeneral Manager – India

Sannam S4

Ms. Sheema VohraManaging Director – India

Brand USA

Mr. Deepankar BanerjeeChief Executive Officer

ExxonMobil Lubricants Private Limited

Ms. Shalini PillayPartner

KPMG India

Mr. Sreekant VelagapudiSr. HR Director

Aryaka Networks India Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. Ranjit SinghDirector

Jarvis Equipment Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. Muneeb AnsariAssociate Director

APCO Worldwide India Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. Narayanan RamaswamyPartner

KPMG India

National Secretariat

Ms. Shailja KaushalProject Director - ECP

Email : [email protected]

Mr. Debasish Roy Program Director


Ms. Mamta UppalMembership & Events Manager


Mr. Aubrey DanielsRegional Director - Tamil Nadu Region


Ms. Ines MirandaRegional Director - Karnataka Chapter


Ms. Valerie SwopeProgram Coordinator


Ms. Udaya ArunDirector - Aerospace & Defense


Ms. Madhvi KatariaDeputy Director General


Ms. Ranjana KhannaDirector General, CEO


Ms. Amada KidwaiRegional Director - Eastern RegionEmail : [email protected]

Mr. Yeshi DorjeeManager - Administration & PublicationsEmail : [email protected]

Mr. L.N. AgarwalSenior Manager & OSD


Ms. Tanya PaulCommunication Director


Mr. Gaurav MendirattaDirector - Medical Devices


AMCHAM Team

Ms. Surabhi WahalRegional Director - Western RegionEmail : [email protected]

Ms. Ruth Sandya RodriguesRegional Director - Hyderabad Chapter


Established in 1992, the American Chamber of Commerce in India (AMCHAM India) is an association of American business organizations operating in the country.

AMCHAM India has around 500 members, spread across the nation. The Chamber enjoys a close relationship with the U.S. Embassy, which supports its objectives and helps in fulfilling them. The incumbent U.S. Ambassador to India is the Honorary President of AMCHAM.

MissionAMCHAM’s principal objectives are to:

• Promote activities that encourage and stimulate investment by U.S. companies in the country.

• Support the business operations of its members.

• Encourage bilateral trade between India and the U.S.

These primary objectives are fulfilled by:

• Providing a forum for U.S. – based business organizations to discuss and identify common issues, economic and commercial interests in India and /or the U.S.

• Instituting Sectoral Committees which implement the primary objectives in their respective sectors.

• Reviewing policies and procedures in various sectors that affect the members as well as growth of foreign direct investment.

AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN INDIA Affiliations

AMCHAM is affiliated to the following Chambers :

• Chamber of Commerce of U.S.A in Washington, D.C.

• Asia Pacific Council of American Chambers of Commerce (APCAC)

• AMCHAM’s in other countries.

Regional Chapters

AMCHAM’s National Secretariat is based in New Delhi with six Regional Chapters in Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai.

Published by: American Chamber of Commerce in India Address: PHD House, 4th Floor, 4/2, Siri Institutional Area, August Kranti Marg, New Delhi – 110 016

Printed at Multiplexus (India), C-440, Narela Industrial Park, DSIIDC, Narela, Delhi - 110040 Editor: Tanya Paul, [email protected]

Regional Secretariat

AMCHAM Update...Development, Boeing and Mr. Arijit Ghosh, NEB Member, AMCHAM and President &...

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