19th Annual General Meeting of Amcham
April 29, 2011 – New Delhi

Proceedings

The 19th Annual General Meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce in India (Amcham India) was held on 29th April 2011 in New Delhi.

Welcome & Presentation of Annual Report

Mr. Ajay Singha, Executive Director, Amcham India, welcomed the members to the 19th AGM and requested Dr. Dinesh Keskar, Chairman, Amcham India, and President, Boeing India, to present the Annual Report and make his observations.

Dr. Dinesh Keskar presented the Annual Report of Amcham for the year 2010-11. In his address, he made the following observations:

• 2010 was a historic year for U.S.-India relations and President Obama’s 3-day long India visit provided a dynamic momentum to the growing U.S.-India relationship.

• An important initiative during the Presidential visit was the signing of a MoU between India and the U.S. for setting up an Energy Cooperation Program (ECP). The ECP was housed and served by Amcham India, thus, enhancing significantly Amcham’s role in furthering U.S.-India cooperation in the energy sector.

• The year gone by had been eventful for Amcham. Immediately on assuming Chairmanship of Amcham, he, along with a few Committee Chairmen, called on a number of Indian Cabinet Ministers and senior Government officials.

• During these meetings, Amcham’s views on a number of issues such as the need for reforms required to attract FDI, particularly relaxing the caps on FDI in retail and insurance were highlighted. A Bill to raise the FDI limit in the insurance sector from 26 per cent to 49 per cent awaiting Parliament approval needed to be passed urgently. This would help the Insurance Industry grow at a much faster pace and also attract larger foreign investment. Allowing foreign investment in multi-brand retail had been on the anvil for long but Government had not taken a final decision. Global investors were vary of delays in getting land acquisition and environmental clearances.

• To boost FDI, the Indian Government had recently eased rules for foreign firms in joint ventures to launch other partnerships or solo ventures in the same field. However, accelerating disinvestment, privatizing areas of Government monopoly like coal mining would buoy investment sentiments even more.

• India would continue to remain an important economic and business partner for the U.S. The Indian economy was expected to register a growth of 8.6 per cent in the fiscal year 2010-11, and was aiming at a growth of over 9 per cent for 2011-12. Amcham was confident that the Government could keep the growth momentum provided it took necessary initiatives to ease policies in various sectors of the economy and gave clear signals that it was going to improve the investment climate and open up FDI further through a policy framework that was transparent, simple and reduced the regulatory burden.

Dr. Keskar concluded by thanking the Chairmen of the 6 Regional Chapters of Amcham at Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi for playing an increasingly active role in their respective regions; members of the Executive Board for their valuable support and guidance; to the two Vice-Chairmen, Mr. Aniruddha Lahiri and Mr. Russell Parera, Mr. Atul Dhawan, Hony. Treasurer and Mr. Andrew Horne, Hony. Secretary; Mr. Vinod Chandiok, Partner, Walker Chandiok & Co., for auditing Amcham accounts on pro bono basis and finally, to all the members of Amcham and the National and the Regional Secretariats for their initiatives and team work.

Presentation and Adoption of Audited Accounts for 2010-11

Mr. Atul Dhawan, Hon. Treasurer, Amcham India, and National Leader Clients & Markets, Deloitte Haskins & Sells, presented the audited accounts for 2010-11. Mr. Dhawan said that the financial health of Amcham continued to improve due to better management of resources and increase in number of activities. Auditors had not raised any objections. As members had no comments to make, Mr. Dhawan proposed that accounts be adopted. This was proposed by Mr. Gulshan Kalra and seconded by Ms Hina Nagarajan.

Appointment of Auditor for 2011-12

Mr. Singha said that M/s. Walker Chandiok & Co., Chartered Accountants, had audited the accounts of Amcham for 2010-11 on pro bono basis. He suggested that they audit the accounts of Amcham for 2011-12 also. Accordingly, the following Resolution was passed:

“RESOLVED THAT, M/s Walker Chandiok & Co., Chartered Accountants, bearing ICAI registration number 001076N, be and are hereby appointed as the Statutory Auditors of American Chamber of Commerce in India for the financial year 2011-12 on a pro bono basis to hold office from the conclusion of this meeting up to the next Annual General Meeting of the Chamber.”

The Resolution was proposed by Mr. Ajay Sinha and seconded by Mr. Sanjeev Kant Soni.

Executive Director’s Report

Mr. Ajay Singha, Executive Director, Amcham India, read out the Executive Director’s Report. He highlighted the following points:

• The year gone by (May 2010-April 2011) was very eventful for US - India relations and specially for Amcham India. Meetings were held with a number of Indian Cabinet Ministers and senior Government officials. These included Mr. P. Chidambaram, Home Minister; Mr. Vilasrao Deshmukh, the then Minister of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises; Mr. Sushil Kumar Shinde, Minister of Power; Mr. Prithviraj Chavan, the then Minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office; and Mr. Sachin Pilot, Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology. Some of the Committee Chairs and select members also called on Mr. M.M. Pallam Raju, Minister of State for Defence; and Mr. Tarun Kumar Gogoi, Chief Minister of Assam. During these meetings, Amcham brought out issues of concern to its members. The Government officials included Mr. G.K. Pillai, Home Secretary; Mr. Ashok Chawla, the then Finance Secretary; Mr. R. Chandrasekhar, Telecom Secretary; Mr. Sunil Mitra, Revenue Secretary; and Mr. Rahul Khullar, Commerce Secretary Mr. T. Ramasami, Secretary, Ministry of Science & Technology; Mr. S.D. Majumder, Chairman, Central Board of Excise & Customs and other senior Revenue Department officials

• The Chairmen of various Sectoral Committees constantly provided sectoral inputs to the Government on issues ranging from GST, DTC and the Pre-Budget Memorandum; new telecom security guidelines; deepening of defense cooperation; import of medical equipment and devices; strong patent laws and implementation; pre-clinical evaluation guidelines; position on biosimilars, etc.

• Throughout the year, Amcham played host to a number of U.S. Government delegations. The most significant among these was the visit of U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke who assured the Indian Government the fullest U.S. support, both Government and private sectors to meet development challenges ranging from upgrading infrastructure, healthcare and energy to name a few. More importantly, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce emphasized the need to reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers; improving IPR protection and encouraging FDI by lifting various restrictions on FDI.

• In partnership with Deloitte, Amcham brought out a special publication on the eve of President Obama's visit. Entitled " Indo-US Dynamics: Anchoring Change through collaboration".

• For the first time, with effect from January 2011, Amcham ventured into bringing out an Amcham bimonthly newsletter on a regular basis. The newsletter aimed at providing balanced and quality information on subjects of interest to the membership. Defense, Homeland Security and Energy were covered in the last three publications.

• Successful delegations of Amcham visited Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Singapore. The delegates interacted with Government officials and other business leaders to get a better understanding of investment conditions and scout for new business opportunities.

Mr. Singha thanked Dr. Dinesh Keskar who in spite of his busy schedule, gave a lot of time to attend Amcham meetings and guided Amcham in its activities. He also thanked Chairmen of the Regional Chapters for their leadership and untiring support.

Announcement of election results of the new Executive Board for 2011-12:

Mr. Ajay Singha announced that nine nominations had been received against the nine vacancies in the National Executive Board for 2010-11. Accordingly, the following members had been elected uncontested:

1. Mr. Atul Dhawan
National Leader Clients & Markets
Deloitte Haskins & Sells

2. Mr. Zubin Irani
Senior Managing Director, Commercial Companies – India
United Technologies Corporation India Pvt. Ltd.

3. Mr. Raj Kumar Jain
Managing Director and CEO
Bharti Walmart Private Ltd.

4. Mr. Balvinder Kalsi
President, South Asia, DuPont
E. I. DuPont India Private Limited

5. Mr. Aniruddha Lahiri
CEO
Skytech Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

6. Mr. Rajiv Memani
Country Managing Partner
Ernst & Young Pvt. Ltd.

7. Mr. Russell Parera
Chief Executive Officer
KPMG

8. Mr. Roger M. Rose
Chief Executive
Lockheed Martin India Pvt. Ltd.

9. Mr. Atul Singh
President & CEO
Coca-Cola India

Other than the 9 members, the Regional Chapters had nominated their Chairmen and one other representative each to the Board. These were:

Northern Region Chapter

Mr. Amit Sharma,
Executive Vice President – President Asia
ATC Tower Company of India Pvt. Ltd.
(Chairman of the Regional Chapter)

Ms Hina Nagarajan
Country Manager
Mary Kay Cosmetics Pvt. Ltd.
(Representative of the Regional Chapter)

Hyderabad Chapter

Mr. Laxmikanth Venkatraman
Managing Director
Broadridge Financial Solutions (I) Pvt. Ltd.
(Chairman of the Regional Chapter)

Mr. Bipin Pendyala
VP & Site Director
CA (India) Technologies Private Limited
(Representative of the Regional Chapter)

Karnataka Chapter

Mr. Atul Ujagar
Country Director
Nike Sourcing India Pvt. Ltd.
(Chairman of the Regional Chapter)

Mr. Venkatesh Valluri
Chairman
Ingersoll Rand (India) Ltd.
(Representative of the Regional Chapter)

Kolkata Chapter

Mr. Ambarish Dasgupta
Director
PricewaterhouseCoopers Pvt. Ltd.
(Chairman of the Regional Chapter)

Mr. Gulshan K. Sachdev
Managing Director
Quaker Chemical India Ltd.
(Representative of the Regional Chapter)

Tamil Nadu Chapter

Mr. R. Ramkumar
Vice President
Cognizant Technology Solutions
(Chairman of the Regional Chapter)

Mr. Joginder Singh
Managing Director
Ford Business Services Center Pvt. Ltd.
(Representative of the Regional Chapter)

Western Region Chapter

Mrs Kaku Nakhate
President & Country Head
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
(Chairperson of the Regional Chapter)

Mr. Sonjoy Chatterjee,
Chairman
Goldman Sachs (India) Securities Pvt. Ltd.
(Representative of the Regional Chapter)

Ex-officio Members of NEB for 2011-12:

1. Dr. Dinesh Keskar
President of Boeing India and Vice President of Boeing International
(outgoing Chairman of Amcham India 2010-11)

2. Ms Judy R. Reinke
Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs
Embassy of the United States of America

Mr. Blair Parks Hall, Jr.
Minister Counselor - Economic, Environment & Science Affairs
Embassy of the United States of America

Mr. Singha informed the members that a mail had been received from Mr. Atul Ujagar, Chairman, Amcham’s Karnataka Chapter, which stated that he would not be able to continue as a member of the NEB for 2011-12, due to pressing priorities at work. He would be proposing another name from the Bangalore Chapter, soon.

Mr. Singha requested the members to approve the nominations received for the National Executive Board for 2011-12.

“RESOLVED that the nominations received for the National Executive Board for 2011-12 be and are hereby ratified by the 19th Annual General Meeting of Amcham.”

Vote of Thanks

Mr. Aniruddha Lahiri, Vice Chairman, Amcham India, and President (India), The Chatterjee Group, USA, and CEO, Skytech Solutions Pvt. Ltd., proposed the Vote of Thanks. He thanked all Amcham members, members of the Board and the Chairmen of various Sectoral Committees for their interest and participation. He also thanked the National and Regional Secretariats for all their efforts and for putting together a number of programmes.

Special Session with U.S. Ambassador

The Statutory AGM was followed by a Special Session with the U.S. Ambassador, H.E. Mr. Timothy J. Roemer.

Dr. Dinesh Keskar welcomed H.E. Mr. Timothy J. Roemer, U.S. Ambassador in India, with a bouquet of flowers. He said that Ambassador Roemer had the distinction of bringing President Obama to India, thus bringing the people of our two nations close to each other. He also reached out to the common man by shaking hands, and personally interacting with as many people as possible.

H.E. Mr. Timothy J. Roemer, U.S. Ambassador in India, delivered the Keynote Address. His Address is given in the Annexure.

The U.S. Ambassador released the Special Report on “Impact of U.S. Investments on India” prepared by Ernst & Young for Amcham. A copy of the Report was presented to him by Mr. Rajiv Memani, Member of Amcham’s National Executive Board, and Country Managing Partner, Ernst & Young Pvt. Ltd. The publication highlighted the following points:

• The U.S. made significant contribution towards India’s economic development, both socially and economically.

• U.S. companies had established a significant presence in India in almost all sectors – to name a few, IT, telecommunications, healthcare, retail, infrastructure, banking and financial services, and of late, in the defence aerospace, homeland security and education sectors.

• U.S. investments in India addressed and provided intelligent solutions in these key sectors by providing cutting-edge technologies, R&D and innovation. American industry contributed in terms of employment generation, skill development, cost effective and quality services, and propelled India into a higher growth orbit.

Mr. Ajay Singha, on behalf of Amcham and its membership, thanked Ambassador for addressing Amcham’s AGM.

Panel Discussion

After the Ambassador’s Address, a Panel Discussion took place on “U.S.–India Partnership: U.S. – A Significant Player in India’s Growth and Development”. Distinguished speakers included Ambassador Lalit Mansingh, Former Indian Ambassador to U.S.; Mr. Dhanendra Kumar, Chairman, Competition Commission of India, and Former Executive Director, World Bank; Dr. Dinesh Keskar, Chairman, Amcham India and President, Boeing India; Mr. Karl Slym, President and Managing Director, General Motors India Pvt. Ltd.; Mr. Manoj Gopalakrishna, Managing Director, BD India; Mr. Pavan Bagai, Chief Operating Officer, EXL Service and Mr. Steven R. Okun, Chairman, Asia-Pacific Council of American Chambers of Commerce (APCAC). The discussion was moderated by Mr. Aniruddha Lahiri.

During the Panel Discussion, Ambassador Lalit Mansingh said that India needed technology and investment capital the most. Mr. Mansingh identified 5 fingers of the US-India friendship - technology, security, economic development, energy and military partnership. He said that energy was a critical area of cooperation/partnership. However, security cooperation, according to Mr. Mansingh, did not translate into defence procurement. He also said that the focus should not be on defence procurement but on how to make the US-India partnership stronger.

Mr. Dinesh Keskar said that India was now able to get technology which was going to make it a part of the global aerospace.

Mr. Karl Slym said that GM developed business in India by bringing in people from outside and now was pleased that people were going outside of India to support their global business.

Mr. Manoj Gopalakrishna spoke on collaborative initiatives with India that strengthened healthcare. These included patient safety, diabetes education, rational antibiotic unit, etc. He also highlighted BD India’s CSR partnership with the Clinton Foundation.

Mr. Pavan Bagai said that the IT sector had been an engine of growth. Demand and growth in India was taking place, driven by the U.S.

Mr. Steven Okun said that a message should go out to the U.S. that outsourcing and BPO services were creating jobs on both sides. He said that there was no argument that U.S. investment was needed for India. There was an ongoing Indo-U.S. partnership in every year and this would continue to grow in the years to come.

Mr. Singha proposed the Vote of Thanks.

This was followed by a networking lunch.

*****

Annexure

Remarks by U.S. Ambassador Timothy J. Roemer
AmCham Annual General Meeting
New Delhi, April 29, 2011

• Good morning. It is a pleasure to be here today among friends as I see many familiar faces.

• We have had many big events this year and it seemed that Amcham was involved in most of them. From Aero India in Bangalore to our National Day reception to President Obama’s visit, Amcham has been a great supporter of our Mission’s efforts and in the U.S. – India strategic partnership.

• Much of this would not have happened had it not been for the leadership and guidance of Dinesh Keskar. I want to thank him and congratulate him for his outstanding tenure as the Amcham Chairman.

• I want to thank everyone for their flexibility in changing today’s schedule so I could be here today.

• It is very fitting to be here with Amcham members today. Two years ago, when I first arrived in New Delhi, one of my first public events was meeting with Amcham and many of you here today.

• So I am glad that my first public event since yesterday’s announcement of my upcoming departure as the U.S. Ambassador to India is with all of you.

• Before the rumors begin to fly, let me say, unequivocally, I am not departing to run for President!

• When I accepted the position, I told President Obama that I would agree to stay for two years but after that, my commitment to my family would take precedence.

• I have two boys who will be entering college in the next 15 months and I have parents and in-laws who want to see more of us and we want to see more of them. I know that many of you in international business face the same decisions and challenges. I have great respect for the sacrifice and dedication you bring to building this relationship.

• My family and I have had such a great time here with wonderful friendships, fantastic travel, and terrific experiences. Yet, as most of you are aware, your family gives up certain things and makes great sacrifices when you live outside of America. So after two years, for our family, it is time to go home.

• This has been an extraordinarily successful and rewarding two years; ones that saw incredible accomplishments and improvements in the U.S. – India strategic relationship.

• Our two countries are collaborating and partnering in almost every field of human endeavor, from defense to health, from education to trade, from energy to agriculture. In all these areas we have had notable successes.

• On security, defense, and intelligence, our cooperation has taken off since the signing of the Counterterrorism Cooperation Initiative, which I signed in July 2010.

• Momentum in this area really took off when we gave the Government of India access to David Headley. Our intelligence sharing has continued, providing benefits to both countries, so that when there are major sporting events such as the Commonwealth Games or the Cricket World Cup, the focus and headlines remain on the achievements of the athletes.

• Just a few weeks ago, almost 40 police officers from 14 central and 15 state agencies across India participated in Los Angeles in a Law Enforcement Executive Development seminar focusing on counterterrorism, crisis response, and megacity policing.

• Such exchanges were probably not possible just two or three years ago but are now occurring on a much more frequent basis. We all benefit when our law enforcement officials work together in this way.

• On defense, one simply has to look at the growth in defense sales to see how close our two armed forces are becoming. We now have regular exercises across all services that are increasing in size and complexity as our militaries become more familiar with each other.

• I had the pleasure of attending the arrival ceremony of the first of six C130-J planes that were delivered to India this past February. Several more have since been delivered.

• These sales demonstrate all the best of American manufacturing, technology, and workmanship as they have been delivered on time and under budget.

• We are expecting similar success with the sale of C17 aircraft. Once this over four billion dollar sale is finalized, the economic impact will be felt by 30,000 American workers and 650 American suppliers located in 44 states.

• But do not take my word for it. Let me quote Chris Chadwick, president of Boeing Military Aircraft, who said. “Our hands are pretty full. There’s lots going on.” I think the same sentiment can be said by almost all of our defense contractors when it comes to business in India.

• These sales strengthen the strategic partnership between our two countries, and demonstrate our enduring commitment to sharing the world’s best technology with India.

• The sales broaden India’s strategic and humanitarian response capabilities and strengthen India’s role as a force for good in Asia.

• There have been almost too many achievements on the political front for me to name but most of these were unthinkable just a few years ago.

• After my nomination, I spent many hours preparing for my confirmation hearing, meeting with U.S. government officials from all agencies and Indian experts. Almost all thought support for India’s permanent seat on a reformed U.N. Security Council was not possible.

• Eighteen months later, during President Obama’s historic visit here and in his speech to Parliament, he made clear he looked forward to India as a permanent member of the UN Security Council. It was a recognition that India has arrived on the global stage and is ready to play a constructive role in meeting global challenges.

• President Obama’s visit opened the door for a truly global partnership. We have reformed our export control regime and removed key Indian defense and civil space entities from U.S. restricted lists, which will boost high technology exports and allow for enhanced defense and space cooperation.

• With India, we are cooperating to promote open government and free elections in third countries, a historic move forward from India’s prior stance.

• We are working with India in third countries, such as Afghanistan, where India and the United States share the same goals and have the same vision.

• We are also working with India in several African countries, to leverage our shared experiences and expertise to those countries to promote agricultural productivity and improve food security.

• On the trade and economic front, we have had similar successes.

• Our exports to India were up 17 percent in 2010 and we are on our way to achieving the President’s National Export Initiative goal of doubling exports in five years.

• In the last two budgets, the Indian government has reduced tariffs on a number of U.S. priority goods, including certain agricultural products, aircraft and aircraft parts, clean energy machinery, and medical equipment.

• During President Obama’s visit, we announced 20 deals totaling nearly $10 billion dollars in U.S. exports that will lead to more than 50 thousand jobs in America.

• Last December, I was in Chennai, where I had the opportunity to meet several U.S. companies. I met with Histogenetix, based in New York, that does biodata analysis in Chennai. On the face of it, it appears to be your classic outsourcing story. But in part due to the success of the Chennai office, the New York office has added 300 jobs since it opened in India four years ago.

• Just last week I visited a gasoline refinery in Assam. With American manufactured equipment, it was able to increase capacity by 50 percent and it is looking to buy more American equipment. With this increased capacity, it can supply fuel efficiently to the Northeast and is even hoping to export to Bangladesh.

• These are examples of the win-win proposition for both nations that President Obama spoke of in Mumbai. Today, we can even weave through the Delhi traffic riding a Harley. What more of a win-win can you ask than that?!!

• Our relationship with India is not perfect; no relationship is. We can tighten our intel sharing capabilities; we continue to urge India to further open its markets, liberalize its FDI regime, and to improve the transparency and predictability of doing business throughout India.

• Yet, the future for the U.S. – India strategic partnership has never been brighter.

• Going forward, I see three important global trends that will set the tone and pace of the U.S. – India global partnership.

• The first is geo-political, with the emphasis shifting from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The two fastest growing major economies are China and India. China is the second largest economy in the world and in the not too distant future, India will be the third.

• The IMF predicts that by 2050, China’s economy will double the size of the United States’ and India will surpass the United States to become the world’s second largest economy. A Goldman Sach’s report predicts that by 2050, nine of the largest 25 economies will be in Asia.

• In multilateral fora, such as the G20, the IMF, the World Bank, and the WTO, Asian countries, including India, are playing a more important role in shaping the structure of international institutions and directing the global economy.

• The second trend is demographics and the number of people moving from poverty into the middle class. Today, India has a middle class of an estimated 160 million people but with its booming economy and a large, relatively young population, what will this figure be in the future? Will it be almost 300 million as predicted in a recent NCAER study? Will it be 500 million as predicted by a McKinsey report? Will it be higher?

• How will this mega-migration to the middle class impact democracy? How will it impact civil institutions in India? How will it affect regional trends?

• With such a large potential market, what are the opportunities for U.S. and Indian businesses to collaborate and to meet the demand for education, infrastructure, health care, consumer goods? What social trends will be generated from this rising middle class?

• The third trend is the challenges posed by the rise of transnational actions and actors. Given rising global demand for energy, will we see breakthroughs in solar and wind power technology, making these types of renewable energy cost competitive with other forms of energy?

• Technology and the Internet has been a boon for communications, consumers, and businesses but it has also led to the need for countries to cooperate in cybersecurity and non-proliferation efforts. We see that new technologies and social media like Facebook have played a role in overthrowing a 30 year government in Egypt.

• What role will this new information technology play in helping the Egyptian people realize their democratic aspirations? And how can democracies like the United States and India support the use of technology to democratize access to information and energize civic engagement?

• Will future inexpensive e-pads and other tablets revolutionize the way children learn and teachers teach and provide access to education to regions and people that previously did not have the opportunity? How will this bulge in educated classes affect trade and commerce, security, and the environment?

• Such transnational challenges, threats, and opportunities will require countries to cooperate in ways not foreseen just a few years ago.

• I am certain that the U.S. – India global partnership is ready for such challenges.

• By any metric – be it amount of exports, number of visitors, total educational exchanges - the foundation of this partnership – the government-to-government ties, the business ties, and the people-to-people ties - have never been stronger.

• Our shared values that lead to our shared interests have never been more aligned on almost every issue.

• And both our countries realize our shared vision for a future of peace and prosperity is best advanced in partnership. As Prime Minister Singh has called it, “a partnership of equals.”

• The U.S. – India global partnership is on a trajectory that knows no limits. We are entering a golden age in our relations that will result in us creating economic opportunities for our citizens, educating the leaders of tomorrow; and ensuring safe and secure communities throughout the world.

• Once successful, as President Obama told Parliament, “the relationship between the United States and India — bound by our shared interests and our shared values — will be one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century. This is the vision that our nations can realize together.”