amcham update · · 2016-04-20amcham - the voice of american business in india december 2015 |...

December 2015 | Vol IV | Issue 4AmCham - The Voice of American Business in India

• 8thAmChamAmateurInvitationalGolfTournament,NewDelhi

• AnnualGet-TogetherhostedbyDr.AmitMitra,HonourableMinisterofFinance,Excise,Commerce&Industries,PublicEnterpriseandIndustrialReconstruction,GovernmentofWestBengal

• AnexcerptfromthewinnersoftheHRCommittee’s“WhitePaperCompetition”

• 5thInvitationalGolfTournament2015,Bangalore

• “UnityinDiversity–ManagingDiverseTeams”writtenbySauravRay,Dy.GeneralManager–TalentManagement&Development,Federal-MogulIndia

• AmChamAnnualChristmasBall2015HIGHLIGHTS

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Contents04

SmartCity&InfrastructureRoundtablewithUSTDADirector,Ms.LeocadiaZak

068thAmCham IndiaAmateur InvitationalGolfTournament(North)

12AmCham’sAnnualChristmasBall

20AnnualGet-togetherhostedbyDr.AmitMitra, Honourable Minister of Finance,Excise, Commerce & Industries, PublicEnterpriseandIndustrialReconstruction,GovernmentofWestBengal

27AmChamSports2015

29AmCham5thInvitationalGolfTournament(South)

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Issue 4December 2015

Office Bearers

Chairperson

Ms. Vanitha Narayanan

Managing Director

IBM India Pvt. Ltd.

Vice Chairman

Mr. Richard Rekhy

Chief Executive Officer

KPMG in India

Vice Chairman

Mr. Gulshan Kumar Sachdev

Managing Director

Quaker Chemical India Limited

Hon. Secretary & Treasurer

Mr. Atul Dhawan

Partner

Deloitte Haskins & Sells

Honorary Members

Mr. John M. McCaslin

Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs

U.S. Embassy

Mr. George N. Sibley

Minister Counselor for Economic,

Environment, Science & Technology Affairs

U.S. Embassy

Executive Board Members

Mr. Arun Kumar Jain

Managing Director

Fluor Daniel India Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. Banmali Agrawala

President & CEO

GE India Industrial Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. Pratyush Kumar

President

Boeing India

Mr. Varun Khanna

Managing Director

Becton Dickinson India Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. Venkatesh Kini

President – India and South West Asia

Coca-Cola India Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. Krish Iyer

President & CEO

Wal-Mart India Pvt. Ltd.

Ms. Rekha M. Menon

Chairman

Accenture India

NATIONAL EXECUTIVE BOARD 2015-16

Thispastwinterhasbeenquiteeventfulwithnumerousevents throughNovember toDecember. This newsletterwill give you an insight into the key initiates of AmCham.AmChamseekstodevelopclearareasofknowledge,expertiseandfocus,whichalignwith the priorities of the Government of India, the U.S. government in India or U.S.industryinIndiaandemergefromthecumulativeknowledgeofourmemberbase.

The last few months were focused on pursuing business opportunities for membercompaniesinsmartcityandrelatedinitiativesundertheU.S.-Indiaagreement.MeetingswithUSTDAshedmorelightonthematterandledintotodiscussionwiththeirtechnicaladvisory teamwhichwilladvise their Indianpartnersonbestpractices for integratedsmartcityplanningandinfrastructuredevelopment.BasedontheunderstandingoftheU.S.companies’capabilitiesandreadinesstobidforandoffersolutions.Thistechnicalteam will be visiting three cities to do a needs assessment survey and provide onthegroundsupport inAndhraPradesh,UttarPradeshandRajasthan to recommendsolutionstotheirsmartcityplanningandinfrastructuredevelopmentobjectives.

Further on, the Aviation Summit 2015 advanced U.S.-India association in technical,policyandcommercialareas.Bybringing togetherkeydecisionmakers todeliberateonarangeofvitalmatters,suchasairspaceutilization,airtrafficmanagement,airportinfrastructureanddevelopmentfinancing,aviationsecurity,aviationsafety,andgeneralandbusinessaviationdevelopment,thesummitfortifiedcommercialandeconomictiesbetweentheU.S.andIndia.

InMumbai,wemetwiththeU.S.ConsulGeneralMr.ThomasVajda,todiscusssignificantinitiativesandoutcomesoftheU.S.–IndiaStrategic&CommercialDialogue,theCEOForumandtoexploresynergiesandprospectsofpartnershipwithus.TheinterestfortheU.S.governmentinjoininghandswithcivilsocietyandauthoritiesinhelpingtodevelopIndia’sdigital infrastructure,watermanagementandhealthpolicies,theneedtobringIndia’ssupplychaininfrastructuresystemonparwithinternationalstandardsandcustommappingtohelpidentifythecountry’seconomicstrengthswerealsodeliberated.

AninterestinginteractionwithMr.R.S.Sharma,Chairman,TelecomRegulatoryAuthorityofIndia(TRAI),helpedtodeterminetheneedforcostbasedtariffstoserviceproviderstooffsethighinitialfixedcostswhenenteringruralserviceareas.Mr.R.S.Sharmaagreedthattheobjectivewastoprovidebroadbandatlowcost.

IledAmCham’sNationalExecutiveBoardMeeting,wherewefocussedonthetheU.S.government’stopmostprioritywhichwassupportingU.S.businessinterests in India.Mr.ThomasL.VajdasaidthattherewerepositiveoutcomesregardingregulatoryissuesandMr.GeorgeN.SibleybriefedmembersonthevariousmeetingsthattookplaceintheU.S.inthelastfewweeksbetweentheU.S.

Averythought-provokingsessionwithMr.IndranilSengupta,IndiaEconomist;Director-DSP Merrill Lynch Ltd., shared his expert views on the country’s economic outlookbeginningwithIndia’sgrowthstoryasthe2ndlargestemergingmarketafterChinain

Chairperson’s Message

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NATIONAL EXECUTIVE BOARD 2015-16

the2015economyandtheprobabilityofIndia’sovertakingFranceinbecomingthe5thlargesteconomyby2019.

TheAmChamTax,TariffandRegulatoryAffairsCommitteewasinvitedbytheMinistryofFinance tomakeapresentationon thepre-budgetmemorandumwhichhadbeensubmitted earlier. AmCham members said that the environment for business waspositiveand theywould like to invest in India to reinforce its economy. TheRevenueSecretaryassuredusthattheywereworkingtowardsstreamliningandsimplifyingthetaxsystem.WiththeintroductionofGST,manyoftheissuesraisedbymembersrelatingtoexcisewouldberesolved.

The AmChamSupply Chain and Logistics Committee organized a presentation andinteractive discussion where Mr. Dennis Yeo, Managing Director, Asia – IndustrialandLogisticsServices–CBREPvt.Ltd.sharedtheAPACeconomicoverview,a2016forecastofrealGDPgrowth,theNielsonConsumerConfidenceSurveyofQ32015andaconsumerprice index.Thisdiscussionalso touchedupon theGSTreformwhich isexpectedtospurlargescaleconsolidation,warehousenetworkre-engineeringandthedemandforregionallogisticsfacilities.

AmCham’sHRCommitteehadtheopportunityto interviewMs.DianeGherson,ChiefHumanResourceOfficer,IBM.ShetalkedaboutinnovativeworkthatIBMisundertakingtokeep theorganizationaheadof thecurve in termsof talentmanagementandhowtheyare focusedoncreatinganactiveorganization.Thecommitteealsoannouncedthewinnersofthewhitepapercompetitionformillennialson“LeveragingSMACforHR.”InDecember,theHRtalenttoolkitwaslaunchedwhichdiscussedmacrotrendsintheenvironment,theirimpactontheemergingworkplaceofthefuture,thetalentchallengesfacedbyorganizations,theshiftsrequiredtomovefromthecurrenttothefuture,andthebestpracticesemployedbyorganizationstopreparethemselvesfornavigatingtalentmanagementeffectively.

Theholidayseasonalsohada fairshareof funwith twoAmChamgolf tournaments.A total of 91 golfers participated in the 8th AmCham India Amateur Invitational GolfTournament(North),heldinGurgaon.Itprovidedanexceptionalnetworkingopportunitytoplayanddeliberatebusinessinanentertainingenvironment.AmCham’s5thInvitationalGolfTournament(South),heldinBangalorefeaturedprominentcorporateleadersfromvariousAmericancompaniesalongwithtopbureaucrats.

TheChristmasBallwasafunfillednightofnetworking,music,dance,rafflesandgames.AlargenumberofAmChammembers,U.S.EmbassyofficialsandIndiangovernmentofficials,alongwiththeirspouses,participated.

In thecomingmonthsweare looking forward toparticipating in theDIPP’s “Make inIndia”Week,whichwillfocusoninnovationandsustainabilityinmanufacturingforthenextdecade.InthenewyearweseektoproactivelyassesswheretheprioritiesoftheIndiangovernmentand theU.S.government in Indiaalignand identifyspecificareaswhere AmCham, through its member companies, can contribute, particularly in theareasofglobalbestpracticesandskilldevelopment.

I would like to thank all the member companies and the AmCham team for theircontributionsinmaking2015fruitful.Wishyouallaveryhappynewyear!

Ms. Vanitha NarayananChairperson – AmCham

Mr. C. R. Dua

Managing Partner

Dua Associates

Mr. Amit Sharma

Executive Vice President, President Asia

ATC Tower Company of India Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. Rustom J. Desai

Managing Director

Corning India and Telecom Operations

Mr. Madan Mohan Rao Yalamanchili

Executive Chairman

S&P Capital IQ

Mr. Madhu Poomalil

Managing Director

D. E. Shaw India Software Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. Inderjit Sial

President & Managing Director

Textron India Pvt. Ltd.

Dr. Pradip K. Dutta

Corporate Vice President & Managing Director

Synopsys (India) Private Limited

Mr. Gulshan Kumar Sachdev

Managing Director

Quaker Chemical India Limited

Mr. Dinesh Agarwal

Partner

Ernst & Young LLP

Mr. Vivekanand Vanmeeganathan

Director

Caterpillar India (Manufacturing Division)

Mr. Ramkumar Ramamoorthy

Senior Vice President, Marketing, Corporate Affairs and Communications

Cognizant Technology Solutions

Ms. Kaku Nakhate

President & Country Head (India)

Bank of America N.A.

Mr. Sukanti Ghosh

Managing Director, India

APCO Worldwide India Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. Ajay Singha

Executive Director

AmCham

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DELHI

On3rdNovember2015,USTDAinformedabouttheirworkandeffortsforthechosenthreesmartcityprojectsundertheU.S.-India agreement.Companies are requested tokeepinconstanttouchtobenefitfromemergingbusinessopportunities.MembersalsomentionedtheeffortsmadebyAmChaminapproachingotherstatesandcitieswheresmart city related business opportunities are comingup. Companies discussed some of the key challengesfaced in terms of lack of transparency, market accessandopaquebiddingconditionsforsecuringgovernmentbusiness. Major U.S. MNCs engaged in some of the

smartcityprojectsinIndiasharedtheirpositiveandfruitfulexperiences.Valuableinsightsweresharedbymembersinacloseddooratmosphereandtherewasaconsensusthatsomeofthestategovernmentsareverysupportivetobringtechnologysolutionsforinfrastructureandkeento develop smart city projects across the country. Itwasdecidedtohaveregularconferencecallstoupdatemembers on smart city initiatives, to start an onlinediscussionforumformembersinthissectorandorganizeat least two or three state level outreach programs forsmartcitiesbeforeendoftheyear.

Smart City & Infrastructure Roundtable with USTDA Director, Ms. Leocadia Zak

The U.S.-India Aviation Summit 2015

whichwasco-hostedbytheU.S.TradeandDevelopmentAgencyandIndia’sMinistryofCivilAviation.

TheAviationSummit advancedU.S.-India collaborationin technical, policy and commercial areas. By bringingtogether key decision makers to discuss a range of

On4thNovember2015, theU.S.-IndiaAviationSummitencompassed two days of high-level meetings anddiscussions between public and private sector leadersfrom both nations to discuss ways to strengthen thebilateral aviation partnership. The American ChamberofCommerceinIndiawasakeypartnerforthisSummit

(LtoR)Ms.KatherineMichaud,Mr.DillonBanerjee,Mr.HenrySteingass,Ms.LeocadiaZak,Mr.AjaySinghaandMs.ZebaReyazuddin

Ms.LeocadiaZak,DirectorUSTDAaddressingthemeeting Mr.PratyushKumar,President,BoeingIndia

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AmCham Aviation Committee Meeting

HesaidthatthegovernmentwasseekinginputsonthedraftpolicyfromstakeholdersandtheindustryandinvitedarepresentationfromtheAmChamAviationCommittee.The members met to discuss and propose languagechanges for the recentlyannounceddraftNationalCivilAviationPolicy(NCAP)asperhisadvice.

On 4th November 2015, Rajeev Nayan Choubey,Secretary,MinistryofCivilAviationof India,commentedontheRevisedDraftNationalCivilAviationPolicy,2015atthe‘U.S.-IndiaAviationSummit2015’atBangalore.“Wehaveno illusionsabout thedraftpolicyoncivilaviation;hesaid.Thepolicyisnotperfect.Itfallsshortonseveralcounts.”

Mr. Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati, Minister MoCAaddressingthesummit

Mr.RajivNayanChoubey,Secretary,MoCA

Ms.Sathiyavathy,DirectorGeneralofCivilAviation

(LtoR)Ms.LeeZak,DirectorUSTDA,Mr.RichardVerma,U.S.Ambassador,Mr.Siddarmaiah,ChiefMinisterKarnataka

(L to R) Mr. Henry Steingass, Regional Director, USTDA, Ms.Sathiyavathy, Director General of Civil Aviation, Ms. Lee Zak,Director,USTDAandMr.RajivNayanChoubey,Secretary,MoCA

(LtoR)Mr.RajivNayanChoubey,Secretary,MoCA,Mr.RichSwayze, Assistant Administrator, U.S. FAA, Mr. PratyushKumar, President, Boeing India, Mr. R.K. Shrivastava,Chairman,AAIandMr.PheeTiekYeoh,CEO,VistaraAirlines

important matters such as airspace utilization andair traffic management, airport infrastructure anddevelopmentfinancing,aviationsecurity,aviationsafety,

and general and business aviation development, thesummit strengthened commercial and economic tiesbetweentheU.S.andIndia.

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8th AmCham India Amateur Invitational Golf Tournament

Meeting with Mr. R.S. Sharma, Chairman, TRAI

On 5th November 2015, Mr. Amit Sharma, Chairman,AmChamICTCommitteeandExecutiveVicePresident,President Asia, ATC TowerCompany of India Pvt. Ltd.,accompanied by Co-Chairman, Mr. Naveen Tandon,Director – IEA, AT&T Communication Services IndiaPrivateLimited,andMs.MadhviKataria,DeputyExecutiveDirector,AmCham,calledonMr.R.S.Sharma,Chairman,TelecomRegulatoryAuthorityofIndia(TRAI)inhisoffice.

Meeting with Mr. Munu Mahawar, Joint Secretary (Americas), Ministry of External Affairs, GOI

Exclusive Interaction with Diane Gherson, Chief Human Resource Officer, IBM

On5thNovember2015,thisnetworkingandengagementsession was held with Diane Gherson, Chief HumanResourceOfficer, IBM,who is rankedbyHRExecutiveas one of 2015’s Fifteen Most Powerful Women in HR.Anuranjita Kumar, CHRO Citi India, moderated thesession.Diane sharedwith theaudienceabout her life

experiencesandherworkatIBM.ShealsotalkedabouttheinnovativeworkthatIBMisdoingtokeeptheorganizationaheadof thecurve in termsof talentmanagementandhowtheyarefocusedoncreatinganagileorganization.ThesessionendedwithaQ&Asession.

On7thNovember2015,atotalof91golfersparticipatedin the 8th AmCham India Amateur Invitational GolfTournament (North),heldat theGoldenGreenscoursein Gurgaon. The event was sponsored by AmericanAirlines, KPMG India, Lockheed Martin, Honeywell,Amway,TupperwareandPorsche.Thelinkscoursewasquite exciting and themorningmist added to the earlymorningchallengeof keeping thefirstdriveoncourse.Membersandtheirguestshadagreatoutinginanoise-free environment except the shotgun start. Peacocks,

Mr. Amit Sharma discussed the need for cost basedtariffstoserviceproviderstooffsethighinitialfixedcostswhen entering rural service areas. Mr. R.S. Sharmaagreed that theobjectivewas toprovidebroadbandatlowcost.Mr.AmitSharmaalsorequestedforconsultationwith private sector before any policy framework wasfinalized.Mr.NaveenTandonraisedtheissueofhighcostofinternationalcablelandingcharges.HealsocalledforTRAItoopenupinternetconnections.

On 5th November 2015, Mr. Ajay Singha, ExecutiveDirector, AmCham and Ms. Madhvi Kataria, DeputyExecutive Director, AmCham, called on Mr. MunuMahawar, who recently took over as Joint Secretary(Americas)intheMinistryofExternalAffairs.Mr.MahawarwasjoinedbyDr.AcquinoVimal,Director(Americas).

Mr. Mahawar enquired about AmCham activities. Mr.Singha explained AmCham’s initiatives towards smartcities and AmCham’s contribution in providing variousinputs for the U.S.-India Strategic and CommercialDialogue.Mr.Mahawarsaid thathewouldbehappy tomeet with AmCham members and discuss U.S.-Indiaeconomicandbusinessissues.

parrotsandpartridgesprovided thebackgroundmusicand some of us spotted the elusive Indian jackal, wildhareandotherwildlifespecies.

Bynoon the tiredgroupwas receivedwithchilledbeerandsnacksbeforetheprizeswereannouncedandahotbuffet lunch concluded the annual event. Some of uscomplainedaboutthepoorqualityoftheapproachroadtothevenueandeveryonerealizedtheneedformassiveinfrastructureimprovementopportunitiesinruralIndiaas

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well.Togiveallgolfersafairchanceofwinningtheprizeswe played the “Single Pierio” format in two categoriesbelow18and18 to24handicap.We look forward toacontinuedandactiveparticipationbymembersnextyearaswell.Memberswill nowplay the 5th AmCham IndiaInvitationalAmateurGolf tournament (South)on the5thof December in Bangalore. Golf provides an excellentnetworkingopportunity toplayanddiscussbusiness inanenjoyableenvironment.

Allsetfor8thAmChamIndiaAmateurInvitationalGolfTournament,2015attheGoldenGreensGolfCourse,Gurgaon

Mr.AjaySingha,ExecutiveDirector,AmChamwelcomingtheparticipantsduringtheAmChamGolfTournament

AmCham golfer at pre-function area for the registration ofAmChamIndiaAmateurInvitationalGolfTournament2015

Mr.AcquinoVimal,Director(AMS),MinistryofExternalAffairsplaystheinauguralshotatAmChamGolfTournament.

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The results of the 8th AmCham India Amateur Invitational Golf tournament are as follows:

Overallwinner – StevenGimre

Overallrunner-up – SunilMathur

Closesttothepinonhole#4 – GauravGandhi

Longestdriveonhole#9 – AvinashDesokar

Straightestdriveonhole#14 – DinkarMarla

3Mfocuscontestonhole#18 – KasviMalik

Handicap0–17winner – SachinMaitra

Runner-up – HarinderBansi

Handicap18andabovewinner – DhruvSingh

Runner-up – JayantKumar

Mr.PhuntshoNorbu,Counsellor(Political),RoyalBhutaneseEmbassyandCol.RinzinDorjiofRoyalBhutaneseEmbassy,alongwithco-playersatAmChamGolfTournament

Ms. Tyrena Holley, Commercial Attache, U.S. CommercialServiceandherteamgettingreadyforagame

Thankstothesponsors!

Refreshmenttimefortheplayers

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Mr. Dhruv Singh, Executive Director, Ministry of Railways winner of handicap 18 and above receiving a trophy fromMs.TyrenaHolley

Overallwinner-Mr.StevenGimre,ManagingDirector,HoneywellreceivingatrophyfromMr.JayantKumarofKPMG

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The objective of the meeting/call was to discussengagement of the AmCham Pharma Committeemembers with various state governments in comingmonths.TelanganaandMaharashtrawerethetwostateswhich the committee members decided to approachandengage.Membersalsodeliberatedonvariousotherissues likeeaseofdoingbusiness, IndiaPharmaExpo2016andincreasingthemembershipbaseofAmChamPharmaCommitteeduringthemeeting/call.

AmCham Tax, Tariff and Regulatory Affairs Committee Meeting

On17thNovember2015,thethirdmeetingoftheAmChamTax,TariffandRegulatoryAffairsCommitteefortheyear2015-16, under the chairmanship of Mr. Indraneel RoyChoudhury,Partner,PwC,washeldinMumbai.

Thefocusofthemeetingwastoshortlisttheissuestoberaisedduringthepre-budgetmeetingwith theRevenueSecretaryon10thDecember2015.

AmCham Pharmaceuticals Committee Meeting/Call

On27thNovember2015,ameeting/calloftheAmChamPharmaceuticals Committee was organized on in NewDelhi under the Chairmanship of Mr. Sanjiv Navangul,Chairman, AmCham Pharmaceuticals Committeeand MD, Janssen India and Mr. Nick Mitchell, Co-Chair, AmCham Pharmaceuticals Committee and MD,Phenomenex. Other members who joined includedrepresentativesfromAPCO,KPMG,3M,MSDandAbbott.Mr.GauravMendiratta,SectorManager,MedicalDevicesparticipatedfromtheAmChamSecretariat.

AmCham Smart City interaction with USTDA’s Technical Advisory Services team

On 30th November 2015, AmCham’s Smart CityConsortium members had a detailed interaction withUSTDA’s smart city specialists, the technical advisoryteam, at ACSA, U.S. Embassy. The technical advisoryteamwill advise their Indianpartnersonbestpracticesfor integrated smart city planning and infrastructure

development. These experts led by Mr. Doug Shuster,President and CEO of EmergingMarkets Infrastructure(EMI), interacted with our smart city group members,to understand the on-the-ground action and extent ofinvolvement of U.S. companies in various smart cityprogramsacrossanumberofcities in India.Basedon

Meeting of AmCham’s National Executive Board

On 17th November 2015, the fourth meeting of theNationalExecutiveBoardofAmChamfortheyear2015-16, under the chairmanship ofMs. VanithaNarayanan,ManagingDirector – India / South Asia, IBM India Pvt.Ltd.,washeldinMumbai.

Mr. Thomas L. Vajda, U.S. Consul General in Mumbaiaddressed the meeting. He said that supporting U.S.business interests in India was the top most concernof the U.S. Government in India. The U.S. Embassywas collaborating with AmChammembers at the statelevel to advocate for ease of doing business. TheU.S.Embassy’sfocuswasonsupportingtradeandinvestmentpartnershipsbetweenIndiaandtheU.S.andsupportingU.S.companies in India.Referring to regulatory issues,

Mr.Vajdasaidthattherewerepositiveoutcomesonthisaccount.

Mr.GeorgeN.Sibley,MinisterCounselor forEconomic,Environment, Science and Technology Affairs, U.S.Embassy,briefedmemberson thenumberofmeetingsthattookplaceintheU.S.inthelastfewweeksbetweenthe U.S. and Indian governments. These included theEnergyDialogue,HealthDialogue,etc.whichculminatedinto the U.S.-India Strategic and Commercial Dialoguein Washington D.C. in September 2015. The purposeof this strategic dialogue was to elevate the economicaspectsof Indo-U.S. relations.Mostof thesedialogueswereannualinnaturetobeheldalternatelyinIndiaandtheU.S.Therefore,comingthissummerwewillobserveanumberofactivitiesbetweenIndiaandtheU.S.inIndia.

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Launch of AmCham HR Talent Toolkit

On2ndDecember2015,thesoftlaunchfortheAmChamTalent Toolkit was held at the Citi Office, Mumbai. AsthenaturalnextsteptothecreationoftheTalentToolkit,based on the inputs from the previous HR meeting,the talentcommitteehadasoft launchof this toolkit tothe extended HR committee members and businessleaders.ThisworkshopwasfacilitatedwiththeobjectiveofbringingtogetherHRandbusinessleaderstovalidatethecontentforthetoolkitandalsoincorporatechangesaspersuggestions.

Theworkshopwaswellattendedbyseniormanagementparticipants represented a cross-section of industryfromBFSI,consulting,retail,technologyandinformationservicessectors.Theprogrambeganwithapresentationfromthetalentworkstream,coveringthevariousmacrotrendsintheenvironment,their impactontheemergingworkplace of the future, the talent challenges faced

AmCham December Defense Committee Meeting

sendalettertoSecretary,DefenseProductionofficeandwhilethankinghimfortheMoD’spositiveamendmentstooffsetpolicy;wouldalsoreiterateontheotherasksoftheAmChamDefenseCommittee.

by organizations, the shifts required to move from thecurrent to the future and the best practices employedby organizations to equip themselves for navigatingtalent management effectively. The participants wereintroduced to the talentmanagement framework that isbeingdevelopedasatalentmanagementtoolkittoshareamongAmChammembersinIndia.

Post this, theparticipantsweresegregated intosmallerbreak-out groups to provide inputs for the challenges,trends, best practices as well as the toolkit. The talentworkstream plans to build further on the frameworkby bringing together business leaders and managersof talent in a similarworkshop, to test and reaffirm therecommendationsofthesoftlaunchofthetoolkit.ThiswillbescheduledsooninJanuary2016.Overallleadersandparticipantsappreciatedthetoolkitandthecommitteeisworkingtowardsthefinaloutput.

On9thDecember2015,theAmChamDefenseCommitteemembersmet tobrief the teamon thediscussions thecorecommitteemembershadwiththeSecretary,DefenseProduction,Mr.A.K.Guptaand theJointSecretary,Mr.HarbansLalKhera.ItwasdiscussedthatAmChamwould

Pre-Budget Meeting with Dr. Hasmukh Adhia, Revenue Secretary, Ministry of Finance

On 10th December 2015, AmCham and the EuropeanBusiness Group (EBG) were invited by the Ministry ofFinance to make a presentation on the Pre-BudgetMemorandumwhichhadbeensubmittedearlier.

The AmCham team was led by Mr. Indraneel RoyChoudhury,Partner,PwC;andChairman,AmCham’sTax,Tariff andRegulatoryAffairsCommittee,whomade thepresentationondirecttaxesonbehalfofbothAmCham

the understanding of the U.S. companies’ capabilitiesandreadinesstobidforandoffersolutions,thetechnicalteamwillbevisitingthreecitiestodoaneedsassessmentsurvey and provide on the ground support in AndhraPradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to recommendsolutions to their smart city planning and infrastructuredevelopmentobjectives.

Anumberofissuesandchallengesaspresentedunderthesmartcitycampaign,forarobustU.S.privatesectorengagement were discussed – especially challenges

of cost competencies, procurement policies andimplementation level capacity deficiencies. It wasdecidedthatacoregroupofinterestedmemberswouldlead engagements in several identified cities for whicha city-specific approach will be taken and capabilitiesto counter the needs of those cities will be presented.Simultaneouslycompanieswherever feasible,willmakeefforts to engage with technical consultants who areassistingthestategovernmentsindrawinguptheirsmartcitymasterplans.

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AmCham’s Annual Christmas Ball

On12thDecember2015,AmCham’sAnnualChristmasBallwasheldinNewDelhi.Theeventwasfunfilledwithmusic, dance, raffles, games, etc. A large number ofAmChammembersandofficialsfromtheU.S.Embassyand Indian Government, along with their spouses,participated.

TheeventwassupportedbyAmChammembers:

Platinum Partners:AmericanAirlines,Amway,BankofAmerica,BritishAirways,Boeing,CocaCola,Discovery,Metlife,Pepsico

Gold Partners:AzurePower,Corning,Mars,Tupperware

Silver Partners: BechtelIndia,Cisco,Herbalife

andEBG.EBGmadeapresentationonindirecttaxes.

Dr. Hasmukh Adhia, Revenue Secretary, wasaccompaniedby:

• Mr.NajibShah,Chairman,CBEC

• Ms.RaniSinghNair,Member(L&C),CBDT

• Mr.AlokShukla,JointSecretary(TRU-I),CBEC

• Mr.AmitabhKumar,JointSecretary(TRU-II),CBEC

• Ms.PragyaSaksena,JointSecretary(TPL-I),CBDT

AmCham members said that the environment forbusiness was positive and they would like to invest inIndiatostrengthenitseconomy.

TheRevenueSecretaryassured that theywereworkingtowardsstreamliningandsimplifyingthetaxsystem.Withthe introduction of GST, many of the issues raised bymembersrelatingtoexciseetc.wouldberesolved.

(LtoR)Mrs.andMr.BalvinderKalsi,E.I.DuPontIndia,withMr.RajinderSharma,Flipkart,enjoyingtheevening

Thebandthatrockedandrolled---specialthankstoMr.RajaBhattacharyaandhisbandmembers

Mr. Joseph Pomper, Counselor for Consular Affairs, U.S.Embassywithcolleaguesfromtheembassy

Ms. C.J. Collins, U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, withMs.ManorieMallikaratchy,SriLankanHighCommission

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(L to R) Mr. Raghav Chandra (NHAI), Mr. Rajiv Aggarwal (DIPP), Mr. Ajay Singha (AmCham), Ms. Madhvi Kataria (AmCham),Mrs.andMr.GeorgeSibley(U.S.Embassy)atthecakecuttingceremony

Mr.KrishanSachdevofCarrierMidea IndiaPvt. Ltd., givingawaythegrandprizeofaCarrierairconditionertoMrs.Bakshi Mr.AjaySinghainconversationwithDr.DidarSingh,FICCI

(LtoR)Mr.JohnWilliam,TextronIndia,andMr.InderpreetWadhwa,AzurePower,jointheSibleysonthestageforarousingrenditionofJingleBells

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Mr. George Sibley and Mrs. Lee Alison Sibley singingChristmascarols Ms.MadhviKatariapresentingamementoMrs.andMr.Sibley

Guestsenjoyingtheevening Mrs.andMr.PaulFrost,U.S.Embassy,dancingtogether

Mrs.andMr.DillonBanerjee,U.S.Embassy,readytodancethenightaway! Mr.AjaySinghaandMs.C.J.Collinsswayingtothemusic

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Mr.andMrs.C.R.Dua,ManagingPartner,DuaAssociateswithMr.SanjeevSoni,VicePresident-GlobalCorporateBanking,BankofAmerica

MembersattheBoeingsponsoredtable

Mr.H.S.WadhwaandInderpreetS.WadhwaofAzurePowerMrs.andMr.AmberDubey,PartnerandHead-AerospaceandDefence,KPMGinIndia

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AmChammembersenjoyingtheentertainment

Mrs.andDr.DidarSingh,FICCI,enjoyingthemusicThese guests received gifts for being the best dressed,accordingtothegoldenandgreentheme

Thewinnersofthecouplesgamereceivingtheirgifts

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Mr.andMrs.SunilTakyar,BechtelIndia

Mr.andMrs.HarishKrishnan,CiscoSystems Mrs.AnasuyaRay,WrigleyIndiaPvt.Ltd.withspouse

OfficialsfromtheU.S.Embassy

Mr. Romulus Marian Sirbu, Avon India, with Ms. MamtaUppal,AmCham

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GuestsattheChristmasBall Thankyoutooursponsors!

Meeting with Mr. K. Nagaraj Naidu, Director (Investments), Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India

On 15th December 2015, Mr. Ajay Singha, ExecutiveDirector, and Ms. Madhvi Kataria, Deputy ExecutiveDirector, AmCham, called on Mr. K. Nagaraj Naidu,Director (Investments),Ministry of External Affairs,GOI,inhisoffice.

Mr. Naidu wanted to know specific issues faced byAmerican investors in India. He welcomed issues andsuggestions from AmCham on attracting Americaninvestment.

Meeting with Mr. Rajiv Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Government of India

On16thDecember2015,Mr.AjaySinghaandMs.MadhviKataria called on Mr. Rajiv Aggarwal, Joint Secretary,DIPP,GOI,inhisofficetoexpressAmCham’sinterestinparticipatinginthe“MakeinIndia”Weektobeheldfrom13thto18thFebruary2016inMumbai.

Mr.Aggarwalsaidthathewaslookingafterthesessionon design along with India Design Forum. AmChamsuggestedthatthissessioncouldbeenlargedtoincludeinnovationandR&D.

AmCham ICT Committee Meeting

On17thDecember2015,TheAmChamICTCommitteemeeting under the chairmanship of Mr. Amit Sharma,Executive Vice President, President Asia, ATC TowerCompanyofIndiaPvt.Ltd.,alongwithCo-Chairmen,Mr.Naveen Tandon, Director – IEA, AT&T CommunicationServices IndiaPrivateLimited;andMr.VivekVasishtha,Country Leader – Government and Regulatory Affairs,IBMIndiaPvt.Ltd.,washeldthroughaconferencecall.

The meeting discussed issues relating to IoT policy,M2M guidelines, encryption policy, effective publicprocurement, BIS safety testing, security testing,cloudpolicy, anddata localization. Itwasdecided thatAmChamwouldsendrepresentationsontheseissuestotheconcernedgovernmentauthorities.

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PariticipantswithDr.SoumitraDutta Mr.AnandDayal,Partner,Koura&Company,askingaquestion

Meeting with Mr. Ajay Shankar, Chairman, Expert Committee on Regulatory Approvals

On 18th December 2015,Mr. Ajay Shankar, Chairman,Expert Committee on Regulatory Approvals, invitedcommercialrepresentativesofkeymissionsandcountryspecificchambers,includingAmCham,foraninteraction.On behalf of AmCham,Ms.Madhvi Kataria along withMr. Samit Ray, Director - Government Affairs, UnitedTechnologiesCorporation,participatedinthemeeting.

The participants raised issues relating to infrastructure,availabilityofland,delayinapprovals,securityandqualitytesting,etc.Mr.AjayShankarsaidthathewasawareofmostoftheseissuesandwouldbeincludingtheminthereportthathewillbesubmittingtoDIPP.

AmCham-Cornell-Catallysts Knowledge Breakfast

On18thDecember2015,AmChamconductedathoughtsession on Redefining Innovation with Dr. SoumitraDutta,EleventhDeanandProfessorofmanagementandorganizations in the Samuel Curtis Johnson GraduateSchoolofManagementatCornellUniversity.

Thepanelistspresentedgreat insightson the topicandthiswasfollowedbyaninteractivediscussion.

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Ms.ShellyDittmaransweringmember’squeries

KOLKATA

On 2nd December 2015, Ms. Shelly Dittmar, U.S.ConsularSectionChiefaddressedmembersofAmChamEastern Region on the updates and trends on the B-1visa processing systems. She very aptly explainedtheprocessandgavesomeveryhelpfuladviceon thefiling and interview system in place. In the networkingsession that followed, HRmanagers in charge of theirorganization’svisaapplicantswereable toengagewithMs.Dittmaronaone-on-onebasis.Thisalsogavethemthe opportunity to field questions that were relevant totheirownorganizations.

U.S. Consulate Kolkata Consular Section Chief, Ms. Shelly Dittmar gives B1 Visa Presentation

OnMondayNovember9,2015Dr.AmitMitra,HonourableMinister of Finance, Excise, Commerce & Industries,Public Enterprise and Industrial Reconstruction hostedhisannualget-togetherforheadsofindustry,diplomaticmissions, honorary consuls, business chambers,ministers, secretaries of departments andmembers oftheartandentertainmentcommunity, tomeettheChiefMinister ofWest Bengal KamariMamta Banerjee in aninformalgathering.InhiswelcomeaddresstheMinistersaid that the get-together was a celebration of DurgaPuja, Kali Puja, Diwali and the upcoming Christmasseason.MinisterMitrausedtheoccasiontospeakaboutthe Steering Committee that has been set up by thegovernment, comprising secretaries to the governmentand business leaders and pre-dominantly business-drivensectorspecificcommittees.HealsomentionedthattheWestBengalGovernmentwillholdaBengalGlobalBusinessSummit–BengalLeads2016onJanuary7th-9th2016inKolkataattheMilanGrounds.Hesaidthatthe

threedayeventwouldincludepaneldiscussionsandB2Bsessions,whereparticipatingbusinessleaderswouldbeaskedtospeak.Dr.Mitrasaidthatthegovernmentwouldlike themembers of industry present to join thismegaevent to show case to India the renaissance of WestBengal.

The Chief Minister of West Bengal Kumar MamtaBanerjee also greeted the invitees and spoke aboutthe investment opportunities in the state, she thankedindustry forsupportinghergovernment inWestBengal.AmChamEasternRegionwasrepresentedbyChairman,Mr.DineshAgarwalandAmChamRegionalDirector,Ms.AmadaKidwai.

Annual Get-Together hosted by Dr. Amit Mitra, Honourable Minister of Finance, Excise, Commerce & Industries, Public Enterprise and Industrial Reconstruction, Government of West Bengal

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The challenge of leading groups of people fromdifferent backgrounds, with wide ranging aspirationsandexperience,ofdifferentgenderandagesshouldn’tbe underestimated. In fact managing diverse teamscontinues to remain one of the success factors (andchallenges !!) of large and old organisations. But,managing these teams can sometimes prove to be anAchilles’heelsformanyorganisations.

In today’s dynamic and fiercely competitive businessenvironment, diverse teams have to be realised andleveragedasacompetitiveadvantageasorganisationsareincreasinglyusingworkteamsasfunctionaltoolstoachievetheirstrategicobjectives.AsperStephenCovey,“Strength lies in differences, not in similarities.” Therationaleforusingdiverseteamsisthatthereareinherentsynergies as teamsallowboth functional specialisationand collaborative interaction. These teams work bestwhere operations are multi-product, multi-function andmulti-location.Andcompanieshaverealisedthatinordertofosterorganisationalagilityandensurequickresponsetimes,havingdiverseandcross-functional teams is thewaytogo.

Challenges of managing diverse teams

Nowadays, workforces are becoming increasinglydiversewithamixofcultures, languages,functionalitiesandgeographiesthatwouldnothavebeenpossibletwodecades back. Although this mix will bring increasedrange, expertise and adaptability to a company, it alsopresents several unique challenges for today’s teamleadersandHRmanagers.

One of the major challenges facing organisationspromotingdiverseteamsisresistance.Everyworkplacehaspeoplewhoresistdiversityandthechangesitbrings,

Writtenby:Saurav Ray Dy.GeneralManager–TalentManagement&Development,Federal-MogulIndia

even in the most positive of environments. Negativeattitudes can damage morale, slow down positivechangesanddecreaseemployeeproductivity.

AlthoughgenderdiversityisnowprettymuchbalancedinsectorslikeIT/ITESandservice,womenemployeesarestillconsideredtobeanunacceptablenorminmanufacturingsectors. The manufacturing sector is heavily skewedtowardsmaleemployeesandthepercentageofwomenemployees in this sector is dismal. That too, whateverfemale employees are found in manufacturing are insupport functions. You would see a rare instance of afemaleemployeeworkingintheshopfloor,whichisquiteunlikesomecountrieslikeEuropeandJapanwherethenumberofwomenemployeesontheshopfloorarequitesignificant,althoughthetrendnowseemstobechangingin India. Organisations like IBM have acknowledgeddiversity as a strategic imperative and have createdspecialtaskforcestoensurethatdiversityiswellacceptedandencouragedintheorganisationthroughforumslikeWILL(WomeninLearningandLeadership).

Employeeresistancecanbehandledthroughworkshopson teambuildingandemployeesgetting to knoweachotherinformalandinformalsettings.

Anotherchallengethatgreatlydifferingbackgroundscanpresent is communicationdifficulties,which sometimescausedisruptionsinthecollaborativefabricoftheteam.Assumingyoudon’thaveteammemberswhoareovertlyprejudiced against other cultures or nationalities, youcouldstillfacethechallengeofstronglyingrainedbeliefsystems and expectations. Methods of communicationthat are normal for one group of people may appearineffective or improper to another group. For example,Americanstendtobeinformalcomparedtomanyothercultures and may come across as excessively friendly

Unity in Diversity – Managing Diverse Teams

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to someone, particularly an older person, from Europeor Japan. A person from a culture where loud voicesand interruptingarenot intended tobeaggressivemayintimidatesomeone fromaculture that teachesamorereserved manner of expression. Learning in advanceabout the culturesof co-workersbefore youworkonateamwiththemcanhelpyouunderstandtheirmethodsofcommunication.Astheleader,you’retheoneexpectedtoovercomethesechallengesandensurethattheteamachievesthestatedgoals.

If you are an expatriate – leading an organisation ina country to which you are not native – the potentialchallenges takeonanewaspect.The requirements formulti-nationalleaderscanbedaunting.Globalexecutivesneedthesameknowledgeandcapabilitiesasdomesticexecutives,aswellasspecialattributesandskillstodealin unknown and often radically different cultures andenvironments.Multi-nationalorganisationslikeHonda,LGandTataMotors,tonameafew,havedevelopedcross-culturaltrainingmoduleswhichanexpatriateisexpectedtoattendwhenheorshecomestoIndia.LikewiseIndianemployees being sent on a global deputation is alsotaken through these training sessionswhich focuse oncross-culturaldiversitiesandetiquettes.Thisenablestheindividual toovercomechallengesofsettlingdown inanewcountrywithanewteam.

Doing it right

Twenty-first century organisations are challenged bydiversity in many arenas. Demographic changes inworkforce composition and customer populations,combined with globalised markets and internationalcompetition are increasing the amount of diversityorganisations must manage, both internally andexternally. Leaving aside whatever challenges diversitymanagementmaypose, theculturaldiversity in today’sscenarioaddslotofadvantagestoanorganisation.

Organisations like Accenture have embraced diversityandleveragedit forcompetitiveadvantage.Accenture’senduringcorevalues–stewardship,bestpeople,clientvalue creation, one global network, respect for theindividual and integrity – have worked in support ofinclusionanddiversitysincetheorganisation’sfounding.In 2003, Accenture formally established a ‘GlobalInclusion and Diversity’ corporate function to providestrategicguidanceandsupportforAccenture’sdiversity

programsandactivitiesinallcountriesaroundtheworld.Companies like Hindustan Unilever is changing theparadigmofdiversityinIndia.It’snailproductsfactoryinHaridwarisrunbyanall-women’steam.OthercompaniesintheFMCGspacelikeGitsFoodProductsandP&Garealsofollowingsuit.

Another company which has always ensured that itsworkforce has always reflected the communities inwhich itdoes itsbusiness isFordMotors.Recognisingthe company’s day-by-day growth in diversity in thecompany, Ford realised that it needed to strategicallyandeffectivelymanagethediverseworkforcetoenableits implementation continue to work to the company’sadvantage. Ford therefore recognised some measureslikeitsglobaldiversityvisionofdiversityandinclusiontoattractnewdiverseworkforce.

Way forward

To summarise, on the one hand, workplace diversitynotonlycoversthedifferencesbetweencoworkersandcolleagues,butalsotheacceptance,understandingandcelebrationofthosedifferences.Diversityinacompanyoffersavarietyofperspectivesduringdecisionmaking,accesstoawideraudienceorclientbaseandincreasedproductivity, according to an article on MulticulturalAdvantage, an online business resource. On the otherhand,establishingandmanagingadiverseenvironmenthas preventable and curable challenges that can bedamagingtothecompany.

Theonlywayofensuringeffectivenesstowardsdiversitymanagement is accepting it and embracing it withopen hands. A first step towards popularising diversitymanagementwithinanorganisationiscreatingawarenessamongsttheemployeesthroughvariouscommunicationchannelsandlivingitinletterandspirit.Employeesshouldrealise and appreciate that diversity and inclusion is awayof lifewithintheorganisation.TheNewCompaniesAct2013mandatesgreaterrepresentationofwomenonboardsinIndiaInc.,whichwillpavethewayforincludingmorewomenintheIndianworkforce.

Diversitymustbesupportedbyatrulyinclusiveworkplace,inwhichindividualsareacknowledgedandvaluedforallthe different perspectives, ideas and experiences thattheybring to theirworkplace.Only thencanadiversitymanagementprogramworkforanorganisation.

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MUMBAI

On 5th November 2015, AmCham’s Western RegionCommitteemetwiththeU.S.ConsulGeneralMr.ThomasVajda and senior representatives from the commercialsectionaswell as theeconandpolitical sectionof theU.S.ConsulateinMumbai.Themeetingaimedtodiscusssignificant initiatives and outcomes of the U.S. – IndiaStrategic&CommercialDialogue,theCEOForumandtoexploresynergiesandopportunitiesofpartnershipwithAmChamIndia.

ThemeetingbeganwithawelcomeaddressbyCGTomVajda. Ms. Camille Richardson, Principal CommercialOfficer,U.S.Commercial Service shared abrief on thecommercial lawdevelopmentprogrammeandstressedthe U.S. government’s involvement in the strategicplanning of smart cities in India. The interest for theU.S. government in joining hands with civil societyand authorities in helping to develop India’s digitalinfrastructure,watermanagementandhealthpolicies,theneedtobringIndia’ssupplychaininfrastructuresystemonparwithinternationalstandardsandcustommappingtohelpidentifythecountry’seconomicstrengthswerealsodiscussed.Theneedtocreateanefficientandinclusiveethosthat improvesthe investmentclimateandmonitoreaseofdoingbusinesswerealsotouchedupon.

On18thNovember2015,theSCLSharingandLearningConcallopenedwithMr.NikhilKush,Chairperson,SupplyChain&LogisticsCommitteewelcomingthecommitteemembersandtheguestspeakerforthecall,Mr.TisheySharma, Head Commercial, Wrigley India. Mr. Sharmashared an insightful presentation on ‘Best Practices inProcurementatMarsIndia’beginningwiththeireffortsinsustainabilityanditscontributionstosocietythroughitsvariousCSRinitiatives.Thehighlightofthepresentationwasadetailedexplanatoryonsupplierownedinventory(SOI)practiceinprocurementcarriedoutatMarsIndia.Anengaging interactiveQ&Aduringandpostpresentationcovereda rangeof queries fromwarehousing toKPI’s.ThesharingandlearningsessionconcludedwithSurabhi

ItwasdecidedthatthroughthenumerousmeetingsandinitiativesbyAmChamatboththeregionalandindustrysectorallevels,AmChammemberswillidentifycoreareasandchallengestopresentthemtotoplevelgovernmentofficialswiththesupportoftheU.S.consulate.

Potentialopportunities for theU.S.consulatepartneringwithAmChamtoorganizesmartcityevents,governmentto business meetings, consulate advocacy, AGM co-ordinationandsocialmediacollaborationwerediscussed.CGTomVajdakindlyacceptedtohosta jointreceptionattheconsulatepremiseforAmCham’sWesternRegionmembersinearly2016.

Surabhi Wahal, Director-Western Region AmCham,shared a short presentation on AmCham’s WesternRegion, its statistics in membership numbers, industrysegmentationaswellasselectcompanyprofilesasanindicatorontheregionalrepresentation.

CG Tom Vajda concluded by thanking AmCham andthemembersof theWesternRegionCommittee for thehighlyengaginginteractivesessionandlooksforwardtoapositiveandprogressivefuture.

thankingMr.Sharmaforthevaluableinformationsharedthroughthepresentation.

ThesessionwasfollowedbytheSCLcommitteemeetingwhich began with Ms. Surabhi Wahal sharing updatesabout the sectoral committees that were discussed attherecentlyheldAmChamNEBmeeting.Thecommitteemembersagreedonadheringtothenationalagendathatwillbesetupbytheboard,andwillputtogetheraone-pagedocumenton it’s the vision,missionandagendastatementtobesharedattheAGM.

The core committee members shared updates andopened up to ideas from committee members onthe forthcoming SCL face-to-face meeting and event

Interactive Discussion Over Tea With CG Thomas Vajda

AmCham Supply Chain & Logistics (SCL) Committee Sharing and Learning Concall

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scheduled forWednesday, 16thDecember 2015 at theE.IDuPontofficeinMumbai.

Ms. Surabhi closed the call by thanking the memberspresentfortheirparticipationandtheireffortsinmakingitanengagingandproductivesession.

On 19th November 2015, AmCham in association withBankofAmericaMerillLynchorganizedaRoundtableonIndia’sEconomicOutlook–WhatLiesAhead!

The session began with Ms. Surabhi Wahal, RegionalDirector- Western Region, AmCham, welcoming theparticipants and the session’s speaker, Mr. IndranilSengupta. Itwas followedbyMr.AsitBhatia,ManagingDirector,GlobalCorporate& InvestmentBanking,BankofAmerica,whousheredinthetopicthroughhisopeningremarks.

Mr. Indranil Sengupta, India Economist; Director- DSPMerrillLynchLtd.,sharedhisexpertviewsonthecountry’seconomicoutlookbeginningwithIndia’sgrowthstoryasthe2ndlargestemergingmarketafterChinainthe2015economyandtheprobabilityofIndia’sovertakingFranceinbecomingthe5thlargesteconomyby2019.Throughhis presentation,Mr. Sengupta stated the improvementinmacro-economicnumbers in the last2yearsduetothemove in trend from an easymonetary policy to anexpectationofa tightenedmonetarypolicy.Globalanddomestic factors include investments, tightening of theRBI,theeffectoftheharvestseasons,theruraldemand,lowMSPhikesand thesteady fall in ruralwagegrowthgreatly impacts GDP. The expectation that the 7th PayCommissionwillstimulateconsumptiondemandby0.3-0.5%ofGDPdue to factors suchas loweroil process,the doubling of car and housing loan limits and thegovernment’s implementation of theOROPscheme forthe armed service were also discussed. Among the

On19thNovember2015,theAmChamWesternRegionCommitteemetattheBankofAmericaofficeinMumbai.ThemeetingbeganwithMs.KakuNakhate,ChairpersonoftheAmChamWRCommitteewelcomingmembersandsharinganupdateon the recentlyconcludedAmChamNationalExecutiveBoardMeetingheldon17thNovember2015inMumbai.

numerous points put forth through the presentation,Mr. Sengupta also shared his views on the liquiditycrunchandstated thata lotwoulddependonhow theRBIaddressesit.Mr.SenguptasharedhisviewsontherelativevalueforwhenFedhikes,thattheU.S.recoveryispositiveforIndiaduetothemultipliereffectthatithasonIndianexportsthattheRBIcancutevenasFedhikesandthattheINRover-evaluationfearsareoverdone.Thefocusof the government – reforms to follows BJPmanifesto,focus on irrigation, re-urbanization (a la the Gujaratmodel)andtheSwaminathanformulathatsupportsruraldemandwerediscussed.Mr.Senguptaalsostressedonthe5pointstrategyforrevivaloftheCapExcycle–roadprojects, power, housing, easier infra-financing normsandFDI.TheinteractiveandenergeticQ&Athatfollowedansweredquestionsoneconomicreforms,theimpactofthegovernanceandIPR.

The event concluded with Mr. Mahesh Krishnamurti,ManagingDirector,ResourcesGlobalProfessionalsPvt.Ltd. giving the vote of thanks to the participants withspecialgratitudetoBankofAmericaMerillLynchandtoMr. Indranil Sengupta for sharing his expertise and forbuildingsuchanengagingandpassionateenvironmentaround the table. He commended Mr. Sengupta forhis assertive and pragmatic views that brought out sofactuallytheshorttermandlongtermchallengesfortheIndian economy and for bringing to light very tangibleactionables that can be achieved with the support ofAmCham.

Threeproposedeventsforthefirstquarterof2016werediscussed;meetingwith theofficeofCMMaharashtra-Mr. Devendra Fadnavis / meeting in Pune with seniorgovernmentofficials;aCSRfocusedeventandaneventon‘HowhasbrandIndiachangedinthepastyear’.

MembersexpressedinterestinpartneringwithAmChamsectoral committees for industry specific events that

Roundtable on India’s Economic Outlook – What Lies Ahead!

AmCham Western Region Committee Meeting

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On26thNovember2015, theCoreCommitteemeeting(concall) of the Amcham Supply Chain & LogisticsCommittee’sdiscussionincludedupdatesandideasfortheforthcomingSCLCommitteeeventon16thDecember2015inMumbai.Theeventwillfocusonthreekeytopics:1.SCMcompetencies2.Industrialandlogisticsservices3.BestpracticesinSCMatE.I.DuPont.Industryexpertswill joinasspeakersfromBectonDickinson,CBREand

On 16th December 2015, the AmCham Supply Chain

andLogisticsCommitteeorganizedapresentationand

interactivediscussiononindustrialandlogisticsservices,

SCM competencies at the E.I. DuPont India Pvt. Ltd

office,Mumbai. Theevent,whichwaswell attendedby

membersofthecommitteeandSCLleadersofmember

companies, aimed to be an informative and interactive

session.

Mr.NikhilKush,Chairperson-SupplyChain&Logistics

Committee, AmCham and South Asia Supply Chain

Leader-E.I.DuPont IndiaPvt.Ltd.openedtheeventby

welcomingtheparticipantspresent.Mr.Kushaptlyshared

abriefnoteontheeffortsoftheSCLcommitteetobea

platformthatbringstogethersupplychainprofessionals

toaddressissuesandchallengesinthefield.

Theevent’sfirstspeaker,Mr.SoumyakantDwivedi,Head

SupplyChain-BectonDickinsonIndiaPvt.Ltd.,shareda

presentationon thecorecompetencies insupplychain

management.Thepresentationwasbasedonpractices

atBectonDickinson,which isa leadingglobalmedical

technology company. Mr. Dwivedi stressed on the

DuPontwillallbesharingtheplatformontheoccasion.

Itwasdecidedtoundertakeashortsurveywithcommitteememberstoreceivefeedbackontheactivitiesorganizedin2015andsetthetonefortheyear2016.

The meeting concluded post active brainstorming andidea assimilation. Members were thanked for supportandvaluableinputs.

importanceofcreatingasystemthatissimple,effective,

efficientandsafewhilekeeping inmind thecustomer’s

needsintoday’srapidlychangingenvironment.Theneed

tobuildacorecompetencymodeltonurturefuturegrowth

andskilldevelopmentwasthefocusofthepresentation.

This core competency model through its assessment,

review,trainingandsustainabilitywhenimplementedwill

createself-awareness,promotecontinuousimprovement,

learningagility,acrossfunctionalmindsetamongahighly

motivatedandcapableworkforce.

Mr.DennisYeo,ManagingDirector,Asia-Industrialand

Logistics Services - CBREPvt. Ltd. took the afternoon

forwardwithhispresentationonthemarketoutlook2016

inthelogisticssectorwithafocusofrealestate.Mr.Yeo

beganbysharingtheAPACeconomicoverview,a2016

forecast of real GDP growth, the Nielson Consumer

Confidence Survey of Q3 2015 and a consumer price

index.Hestatedthatthekeytrendsinlogistics2016and

thecomingyearsare:

• E-Commerce - the key demand driver for modern

logisticsfacilities

AmCham Supply Chain & Logistics Core Committee Concall

Presentation and Interactive Discussion on Industrial & Logistics Services, SCM Competencies

will interest and benefit member companies. Duringthecourseof themeeting, theminutesof the lastWRCmeetingheldon15thMaywereofficiallysignedbyMs.KakuNakhate.

Ms.SurabhiWahal,RegionalDirector,AmChamWesternRegion, shared a brief update on the events that wereorganizedbythewesternregionduringtheyear2015,as

wellasaplanofactionfortheforthcomingyear.

To gain greater traction to events in the coming year,members also discussed methods of communicatingand engaging regional members. The meeting closedwithMs.KakuNakhatesharingtheclosingremarksandthankedthemembersfortheirvaluablecontribution.

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• Consolidationandcost-savingsamidsupplychoices

• Conversion - redevelopment of old factories/

warehouses

Mr. Yeo discussed revitalization and rezoning of old

industrialproperties.Thediscussionalsotouchedupon

the GST reform which is expected to spur large scale

consolidation, warehouse network re-engineering and

demandforregionallogisticsfacilities.

The event concluded with Mr. Kush giving the vote of

thanks to thespeakerswho through theirpresentations

engaged the room in an interactive sharing of ideas

and insights. Mr. Kush expressed his gratitude to the

committeemembers and participants from the various

AmCham member companies for attending in good

number and contributing once again to help build the

momentumforfuturesupplychainevents.

On16thDecember2015,thefacetofaceSCLCommittee

meetingwasheldattheE.I.DuPontIndiaPvt.Ltd.office

inMumbai.Themeetingcommencedwiththecommittee

chairperson, Mr. Nikhil Kush, welcoming the members

present.Memberswereupdatedon thedecisionof the

NEB toselect the top5sectoralcommitteesand top5

states, aswell as the coherent need to present a plan

of activities for the coming year. It was unanimously

agreeduponthatthecommitteeshouldfocusonexternal

projectionof its immense knowledgeandefforts in the

coming year - through government interaction, CSR

outreachandcollaborationwithotherindustryforums.

The committee discussed means to garner greater

tractionnotjustforitseventsbutmoreimportantlytoits

membership.Itwassuggestedtoapproachsupplychain

and logistics heads of AmCham member companies

togainactivemembers in thecommittee.AmChamas

well as committeememberswould pool in their efforts

towardsthesame.

The meeting concluded with Mr. Kush thanking the

memberspresentfortheirvaluablecontributionstowards

building a roadmap for the committee. The meeting

was immediately followedby theSCLCommitteeevent

-PresentationandInteractiveDiscussiononIndustrial&

LogisticsServices,SCMCompetencies.

AmCham Supply Chain & Logistics (SCL) Committee Meeting

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HYDERABAD

The AmCham Hyderabad Sports 2015 began inSeptember and ended onDecember 13, 2015. The 12eventsincludedcricket,throwball,volleyballformenandwomen, football, basketball, badminton, table tennis,tennis, carom, chess, and athletics were conductedduringthisperiodeverySaturdayandSunday.

Deloitte were the winners in most of the categories.In cricket, Deloitte reclaimed their title this year andQualcommweretherunnersup.

Approximately23corporatestookpartinthese12events.WestartedwithbasketballonSeptember20thwhichwasheld at the C.A. India Technology premises. This was

followedbycricketwhichculminatedonDecember12thfollowedbycaromonDecember13thatL.B.Stadium.

Wearegratefulforoursponsors–DSTWorldwideServices,Qualcomm, D.E. Shaw, S&P Capital IQ, SynchronyFinancialandUnitedTechnologiesCorporationandalsoourvenuesponsorsC.A.IndiaTechnologiesforopeningtheirvenueforthebasketballgamesandSt.JudeMedicalforhostingthechessevent.

More than 1,300 people from AmCham membercompaniesparticipated inAmChamHyderabadSports2015.

AmCham Sports 2015

BadmintonatYousufgudaIndoorStadium

Women'schessatSt.JudeMedical

TabletennismatchesatYousufgudaIndoorStadium

Tennis at NVK Tennis Academy Men Singles Finals –QualcommvsCAIndia

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Mr.MilanMahapatra,CountryHeadofiSpacehandingovertheManofthe'Match'atthesemifinaleventQualcommTeam-RunnerupofCricketAmChamSports2015

DeloitteTeam–WinnersofCricket–AmChamSports2015

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BANGAlORE

On 2nd December 2015, the American Chamber ofCommerce,inassociationwithEYIndia,recentlyhostedPAS at the Taj West End, which explored top-of-mindtopicsinthemobilityspacetoday.Over200clientsandtargets from HR, payroll and global mobility functions,attended the half-day event and networking lunch inBangalore. This event offered actionable insight for allorganizationsizes,fromgloballyestablishedcompaniesto new startups (of particular interest in India today).Evolvingtaxlegislation,complianceissuesforemployeesand employers alike, talent acquisition and retention,incentiveplansand technology,wereall key themesofthedayandhelpedtomakeforaseriesofveryinteractivesessions,furtherfacilitatedbytheuseoftechnology.

On5thofDecember2015,atotalof92golfersparticipatedintheAmCham5thInvitationalGolfTournament,heldatthe Prestige Golfshire, Bangalore. Our partners for theevent were Bren Corporation, Textron, Sheraton GrandandTowers,Saggezza,andTimken.Thedaystartedwithbreakfast on a bright sunnymorning.Our partners theFairfield byMarriott and theCourtyard byMarriott hadkeptthetempoonwiththeiron-fieldrefreshmentsforallourplayers.

Bynoonthe tiredgroupwasreceivedwithchilledbeer,

Panelists included EY and business leaders(representatives from IBM, Capgemini, Fidelity, Wipro,Cognizant, HCL, TESCO and Mountain Trail Foodswere included) alongside academics and the IndianDeputy Commissioner of Income Tax, K.R. Narayana.“Thebiggestsuccessultimatelywas inEY’sabilityandtheAmChamnetworktocreateacommonplatformwithindustryandgovernmentleaderstoaddressthemobilitytopics that are pressing for our clients today,” saidAmarpalS.Chadha,PartnerandIndiaMobilityLeaderatEY.

AmCham EY HR Forum

AmCham 5th Invitational Golf Tournament

(LtoR)Mr.AmarpalS.Chadha,PartnerandIndiaMobilityLeaderatEYandMr.InderjitSial

Mr.AmarpalS.Chadha,PartnerandIndiaMobilityLeaderatEYaddressingtheforum

wine,andsnacksandahotbuffetlunchfollowedbysomeexcitingluckydrawssponsoredbyCourtyardbyMarriott.ThedayconcludedwithagrandeveningofentertainmentattheSheratonGrandandTowersalongwiththeawardceremony.Theformatplayedwas individualstrokeplay(net) on double Peoria System of handicapping in twocategories,below18handicap,and18 to24handicap.Welookforwardtoacontinuedandactiveparticipationbymembersnextyearaswell.Golfprovidesanexcellentnetworkingopportunity toplayanddiscussbusiness inanenjoyableenvironment.

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The results of the 5th AmCham India Invitational Golf tournament are as follows:

StraightestDrive : Nanje Gowda (Distance: On theline)

ClosesttothePin : AlanWhelan(Hole#17Distance11ft.)

LongestDriver : BrianWalsh(Distance:262yards)

AmCham Results

Handicap15-24 : Winner-GauravSingh73net

Handicap15-24 : 1stRunnerUp-IqbalSait73net(oncountback)

Handicap0-14 :Winner-NPThimmaiah73.4net

Open Category Results

Handicap15-24 : Winner-Puttraj-70net

Handicap15-24 : 1stRunnerUp-SunniraLy-71net

Handicap0-14 : Winner - Srirag Jayaraman - 69.4net

Handicap0-14 : 1stRunnerUp -AnujZinzuwadia -70.4net

Team Results

WinningTeam : NareshShah,AnilSama,NikhilRaj,ShankarGopal-290.6net

Runner-UpTeam : Aiyappa Madappa, Gopi S, VarunBerry,VikramReddy-293.2net

Mr.AtulUjagarwithMr.R.B.Tiwari

Mr.SialwithguestsfromtheIndianAirforce

Participantsanxiouslywaitingtoteeoff!

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Mr.InderjitSial,President&ManagingDirector,TextronandChairman,KarnatakaChapter,AmCham

Mr. Saurbh Bakshi, General Manager of Sheraton Grand,who had hosted the dinner and prize ceremony, with Ms.SudeshnaGhosh,RegionalDirector–Bangalore,AmCham

(LtoR)Mr.SunilShetty,Mr.AtulUjagar,Mr.ClarenceDSouzaandR.B.Tiwari

(LtoR)Mr.R.P.Sharma,ADGP,Mr.H.C.KishoreChandra,DGP&Mr.V.UmeshfromtheGovernmentofKarnataka.

(R) Mr. Iqbal Sait, Head of Asia Operations, Saggezza,receivingatrophy

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The winning team along with Inderjit Sial (middle), Chairman of Karnataka Chapter, AmCham, with Dr. Raj Kumar Khatri, PrincipalSecretary,Dept.ofRevenue(2ndfromtheleft)

Winnersofthegolftournament

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An excerpt from AmCham HR Committee’s White Paper Contest for Millennials

Company:CognizantName:JoseandGeorgeOommen

Winners of category A “Embracing SMAC”

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Additional Members

Corporate Members

Ms. Michelle ChaingSenior Public Policy Associate

Uber B.V.

Mr. Sanjeev Kumar DeshpandeManaging Director

Itelligence India Software Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. Giridhar BaligaManaging Director, Dx, Beckman

Coulter India Pvt. Ltd.Beckman Coulter India Pvt. Ltd.

AmCham Welcomes New Members

Mr. Mritunjay KapurPartner and National Head of

Risk ConsultingKPMG

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Regional Secretariat

National Secretariat

Mr. Ajay SinghaExecutive Director

Email : [email protected]

Mr. L.N. Agarwal Senior Manager & OSD


Ms. Paridhi Goel Thakur Program Lead


Ms. Tanya PaulCommunication Director


Ms. Sudeshna Ghosh Regional Director - Karnataka Chapter


Ms. Ruth Sandya RodriguesRegional Director - Hyderabad Chapter

E-mail : [email protected]

Mr. Yeshi DorjeeManager (Publications & Logistics)


Ms. Madhvi KatariaDeputy Executive Director


Ms. Mamta UppalMembership & Admin Manager


Ms. Shivani RainaProgram Director-ECP


Mr. Aubrey DanielsRegional Director - Tamil Nadu Chapter


Ms. Valerie Swope Program Coordinator


Mr. Gaurav Mendiratta Sector Manager – Medical Devices Email : [email protected]

Ms. Udaya Arun Program Manager - Aerospace & Defense


AmCham Team

Ms. Surabhi WahalRegional Director - Western Region

E-mail : [email protected]

Ms. Amada Kidwai Regional Director - Eastern ChapterE-mail : [email protected]

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