Conclave on US-India trade in Hyderabad on June 3

Hyderabad, May 26: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh would inaugurate a two-day national conclave of Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC) here on June 3. The conclave would conclude on June 4. Some 300 delegates from across the country are expected to participate in the conclave. Among many distinguished guests, who will speak at the conclave include Governor ESL Narasimhan, US Consul General Michael Mullions, Chief Secretary Dr Rajiv Sharma, GM Rao of GMR Group, Akhil Bansal, Dy. CEO, KPMG, Mandava Prabhakara Rao, Chairman, Apparel Export Promotion Council and several heads of companies. The theme of the conclave as put by M. Ramakrishna, Chairman, TS & AP Chapter Purnachandra Rao Surapaneni, former Chairman and EC member is "Increasing US-India Trade to $500 Billion". The conclave is organized by Indo-American Chamber of Commerce, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Chapter, the local unit of the apex bilateral Chamber, synergizing India-US Economic Engagement. The major objective of the conclave, according to Govindhari, Senior Vice-Chairman, was to promote Indo-American business, trade and economic relations in investment, technology transfer, collaborations, JVs, Tie-ups, Strategic Alliances and so on. In its four decades of existence, IACC established operational connectivity with a host of business, research and developmental institutions in India and the US in order to leverage each other's capabilities for enhancing India-US business relations, informed another VP Chandrajit Narra. For Indo-US trade to grow to 500 billion USD in the next few years, the winning leap growth in trade is needed. For the past 10 years, Indo-US merchandise trade has grown at a CAGR of 13%. A linear growth in trade will not be enough to enable this envisioned growth. Given the complexity and challenges that India faces and the reforms required in infrastructure, resources and policies, its key sectors must experience exponential growth. Currently, Indo-US trade stands at 100 billion USD. Achieving the increase of 400 billion USD will require not only a concerted effort to unblock existing solutions, but also new solutions and structures to drive a more efficient market and a new trading mechanism said M. Ramakrishna. As much as 60% of this growth will come from unblocking trade in key sectors like A&D, infrastructure and logistics, energy, services and manufacturing. The remaining 40% potential can be achieved by initiatives like new governing and organizational structures and trade agreements between India and the US added Govindhari. IACC identified themes such as discovering a common economic foundation, facilitation of trade by government and corporates leading the way to boost bilateral trade. What we have identified as the strategic sectors to growth in Indo-US trade relations include Aerospace and Defense (A&D); Infrastructure and logistics; Energy; India’s renewable energy focus; IT-BPO exports; India’s financial services; India’s insurance sector and Manufacturing informed S. Purnachandra Rao. Delegates will deliberate on these subjects, sector wise themes, identify key challenges in these sectors for reaching its mission of 500 billion $ bilateral trade between India & US during the two days of the conclave, Chandrajit Narra added. During the conclave IACC Study paper on “Road Map to $ 500 Billion Indo-US Trade Relations” will be released by Akhil Bansal, Deputy CEO, KPMG in India. There will be a special address, speakers of the same Dr C. Laxma Reddy, Minister of Health, Government of Telangana, Madan Mohan Reddy, Director, Aurobindo Pharma Ltd; B. Hari Babu, Head-Global OSD/API Operations & India Partner Functions, Mylan Labs, Rajeev Nannapaneni, Vice Chairman and CEO of Natco Pharma and Dr. Unnat Pandit, OSD, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Govt of India and Member, IPR Think Tank constituted by DIPP, Govt of India. A special session on Aerospace and MRO will be held which will be graced by Dr. Rajiv Sharma, Chief Secretary, Govt of Telangana, CJ Collins, Senior Representative, South Asia, FAA; Heamanth DP, COO Aero Commercial, Cargo & Asia Pacific Flying School, GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd; Radha Bhatia, President of Women in Aviation, India Chapter; Yash Kansal, Country Manager--India/SAARC, Oshkosh Corporation Ltd and Dr. Venkateswarlu, MD, Bhogapuram Intl Airport Corporation and others. Another Session will be held on Make in India--Manufacturing & Textiles. Arvind Kumar, Principal Secretary, Energy, Industries & Commerce, Govt. of Telangana will deliver keynote address at the end of the day one. On day two, four sessions will be held on four different key subjects of great importance such as Banking, Finance & Insurance; Renewable Energy' IT & ITeS and Smart Cities. John M. McCaslin, Counselor of Commercial Affairs, Embassy of the United States, New Delhi; Dr. G.S. Reddy, Scientific Advisor to Defense Minister & Director, Research Center Imarat(RCI); Dr. Utkarsh Palnitkar, Partner and Leader of Management Advisory KPMG; Dr. Lalit Kanodia, Chairman of IACC National Conclave will grace the valedictory function on June 4th evening.