New Media

KARNATAKA BRANCH

'Retail Trade:
Growth & Consolidation Vital'

The Karnataka Branch of the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC) in collaboration with Alien Solly organized a half-day seminar on 'the Changing Scenario of Retail in India-Impact on Business' on August 18, 2006 at Hotel Le-Meredien, Bangalore.
Bijou Kurien, President & CEO- Lifestyle & Luxury, Reliance Retail spoke on Drivers of Retail Transformation in India. He said that the Indian market was largely dominated by the unorganized sector with up to 97 percent single outlet sales. Though the market is estimated to be worth about $240 billion, the average sale per outlet is only about $20,000.
Kurien said that developed countries dominated the international retail landscape. The organized sector in the US comprised 85 percent while in India it was just 3.0 percent. Absence of organized retail in India could be a problem. The way out was that single large stores have to grow larger by consolidation and expansion of larger national retail chains must be introduced, he said.
Kurien elaborated on the eight drivers of change in the present scenario: economy, internationally aware consumers, media & habits, brands that have evolved into status symbols, new real estate value, proposition, possibility of foreign retailers entering the market, increasing use of technology and decreasing use of regulation. These could change the scenario, he said, adding that such changes were possible if the manmade challenges to these were dealt with.
Vinay Kumar Director, Times Internet Ltd, spoke on e-Business the Road Ahead. Kumar said that at a time when the retail industry in the country was booming, retailers must try and leverage their brands online. This could be done by creating incentives for customers and offering a multi- channel experience.
Sudhakar, Director Fabmall, spoke on Why is Internet Retailing the Way to go. He said, "That while the online medium may never replace physical retail, as a concept it is here to stay. Low cost good quality broadband will be an enabling factor in this direction'.
Hemchandra Javeri- President, Madura Garments spoke on Challenges on Retail Viability. He said that while retail market in India was booming it was still very nascent. The exploding retail landscape was also attracting several mom-and-pop realtors and such smaller malls might loose their viability in the coming years. Several brands were fighting for scarce quality space.

L to R : Harish Jagtiani, Committee Member, Karanataka Branch, IACC, Bijou Kurien, President & CEO, Lifestyle & Luxury-Reliance Retail, Priya Chetty Rajagopal, Chairperson, Karanataka Branch,
Vinay Kumar Director, Times Internet at Half day Seminar on ’The changing Scenario of Retail in India -Impact on Business’

American I-Day Celebrations

IACC (Karnataka), in collaboration with Ford India, celebrated the Independence of America on Tuesday, July 4, 2006 at The Taj West End, Bangalore.
The 'All American' evening was celebrated with colors of the American flag, blue, white and red. Sparkling entertainment, fellowship, and exciting events in addition to giveaways and prizes for the members made the evening a memorable one for the invitees.
This get-together was made possible with support from Ford India, the Star Sponsor for the evening. Besides this, ITC Infotech co-sponsored the event and Taj West End was the hospitality partner.
The elite guests, most of them the who's who from the various MNCs, and the IT Industry, and the chairmen, MDs and VPs from the SMEs of Karnataka, Americans based in Bangalore mingled with each other freely buoyed by the abundantly flowing spirits, sponsored by Kingfisher, Fling & Chivas Regal.
Ms. Priya Chetty Rajagopal, Chairperson IACC, Karnataka and National President IACC Prabhakar extended a warm welcome to all the members and guests and invited them to join in the fun and excitement of the evening.
Sagar Reddy designed a gala evening peppered with loads of excitement with games, jazz band, foot tapping music and a comedian performance by the " Funny Man.

Prizes, prizes & prizes
For once, members of the Indo-American Chambers of Commerce (Karnataka branch) found themselves more at home on the stage than seated in the audience. Why not, wasn't it fun time?
Over 30 exciting prizes from kind sponsors like Orange County, Ceralli Genuine Leather, Reid & Taylor, Levi Strauss, Orra Diamonds, Timex Watches, Madura Garments, ITC Windsor Sheraton , Oberoi, Taj Group of Hotels, Nilgiris Dairy Farms and many more, were handed out to lucky winners by the sponsors for the evening, besides members of the IACC Committee.
The successful evening of festivity and bonhomie was a time for all members and their close-ones to come together and proved to be an opportunity for IACC (Karnataka) to recommit itself to each valued member.

Product Certification: A Business Need

The Indo American Chamber of Commerce (Karnataka Branch) in co-ordination with UL India Pvt Ltd organised a speaker meet on 'Product Certification for the US Market" at Hotel Royal Orchid Central on July 26, 2006.
Product Certification adds value to your products and helps entry into the most demanding markets be it in Europe, North or South America, Asia or the Middle East.
Chandrakumar Shantaraju, Senior Project Engineer at UL India walked the audience through the requirement, procedures and benefits of Product Certification. Chidanand Burji, Project Manager, Schneider Electric spoke about his company's experience/ benefits of having safety certification for their products. This seminar was sponsored by UL India.

NORTH INDIA COUNCIL

he North India Council of the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC) hosted its 'Annual Fellowship Night' on 27 July 2006 at Hotel Intercontinental Eros, Nehru Place, New Delhi.
The Fellowship Night provided an opportunity for our members and guests to meet and network with key officials from the US Embassy and heads of US multinationals.
The theme of this year's Fellowship Night was Hawaiian. The gala event was spread over fun 'n frolic, dance and music. Raffles, and exciting prizes added fun to the evening.
Acting Commercial Consul (US Embassy) Dale Tasharski, was the Chief Guest. There was a good representation of US Embassy officials including Visa Counselor Richard Sherman, Economic Counselor John Fennerty, FAA Senior Representative for South and Southeast Asia Howard Nesbitt, and Ms Jane E. Schukoske. Executive Director, USEFI.
There was participation from MNCs such as Avon, Fedex, Ingersoll Rand, International SOS Services India Pvt Ltd etc.
IACC-NIC President Baljit Sobti welcomed the guests, IACC Executive Vice President Deepak Pahwa felicitated the Chief Guest and Fellowship Night Chairman Vikram Madhok, proposed the vote of thanks.
The event was supported by American Airlines, Golden Tobacco, JKJ Jewellers, BIT Air and Spice Jet.

From L-R Dale Tasharski, Deputy Commercial Counselor, US Embassy; Vikram Madhok, Immediate Past President, IACC-NIC; Vinod Madhok, Regional Vice President, IACC-NIC

Baljit Sobti, Regional President, IACC and Dale Tasharski, US Dy. Commercial Counselor at the IACC Fellowship Night in New Delhi

Meeting with Dr. Satish Kulkarni, Counselor
for Environment Science, US Embassy

United States-Environmental Resource Centre (US-ERC), the environmental section of Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC) hosted Dr. Satish Kulkarni, Counselor for Science, Technology, Environment and Health Affairs, the US Embassy, New Delhi, over a round-table discussion with members at the IACC conference room during his introductory visit to Mumbai on August 30 2006.
US-ERC is an industrial environmental extension with an outreach programme to assist industry and society at large to handle environmental issues. US-ERC is the joint initiative of US Government Agencies such as USAID, US-AEP & USFCS supported by Indian government agencies, NGO's and industrial associations.
The open forum for round table discussion focused on environment issues relevant to Mumbai in particular and India in general. The special invitees from the American Consulate General, Mumbai were William Klein, Consul for Political & Economic Affairs, Gregory Coffey, Vice Consul and Ms. Trisha Chilimbi, Economic Specialist. Representing the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce were R.K. Chopra, Secretary General, Ms. Kamal Master, Asst. Regional Director, WIC and Ms. Suba Gajapathi, Asst. Manager, US-ERC.
At the round table discussion, the participants comprising professionals & consultants from the environment field, CETP's, NGO's (REEF WATCH, MESN), NEERI (Senior Scientists), Academicians, Bombay Chamber of Commerce, The Orchid-Ecotel (environment office), Financial Institution (SBI) had an opportunity to discuss the issues and probable solutions to the grave environmental issues clouding the Mumbai city. Dr. Kulkarni also deliberated on topics like methane capture, solid waste management, water recycling & waste water treatment, sanitation issues, vehicular & noise pollution. Dr. Kulkarni has invited valuable suggestions with regards to technology transfer, support from US Embassy.

WEST INDIA COUNCIL

Connaughton shares views on
APP with IACC members

IACC-WIC hosted a meeting for with James Connaughton, Chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality on August 24, 2006 at the Chamber's conference room. Connaughton, who is also President Bush's Senior Advisor on energy and environmental issues, met with B. Prabhakar, President, IACC and key members of IACC Executive Council committee to discuss the status of the Asia Pacific Partnership (APP) on Clean Development and Environment. The focus of this discussion was to have Private Sector Engagement on deploying clean and efficient technologies to reduce pollution, improve energy security and to address climate change concerns.

KERALA BRANCH

US Visa issues clarified

The Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (Kerala branch) organized a lecture on 'U.S. Visas' in Cochin on August, 2, 2006. The session was conducted by Mark Fry, Chief of the Consular Affairs, U.S. Consulate, Chennai.
The gathering comprised corporate executives, students and those who wanted to visit the U.S for seeing the country as tourists. Fry said the U.S. Consulate in Chennai was the second busiest centre as far as visa-seekers were concerned. The U.S. visa official explained the rationale behind many of the procedures which Indian visa-seekers often found cumbersome and difficult.
The Consular Chief said that the visa officials wanted to make sure that the visa-seeker was not an economic migrant, who could not find a job in his or her home country. He covered specific topics like tourist visas, business visas, student visas, employee visas for software professionals.
The meeting offered an excellent opportunity for all those who were involved in trade and business with the U.S.
Satish Murthi, Chairman, lACC-Kerala chapter presided over the function and C.P. Sebastian, Vice-Chairman proposed a vote of thanks.

National Executive
Meeting at Chennai

Addresses by B. Prabhakar, National President, IACC. In the dias from right, Sankaran P. Raghunathan, Chairman, IACC, Tamil Nadu Branch, Premaji Pandurang, Managing Trustee, Kshetropasna Trust, Tamil Nadu, R. Veeramani, Former National President of IACC, David T. Hopper, Consul- General, American Consulate General, Chennai, N. Kumar, Vice Chairman, Sanmar Group, Chella K. Srinivasan, Regional President - SIC, Kate Van Till, Vice-Consul & BEP Manager, American Consulate General, Chennai, R.K. Chopra, Secretary General IACC.

David T. Hopper, Consul- General, American Consulate General, Chennai addressing the audience.