The event was a great opportunity for the industry leaders, thought leaders, Business Chambers of Commernce, academia, policy makers and artists to come together, network and explore ways to strengthen the collaboration. As a bilateral Chamber, Indo American Chamber of Commerce serves to foster a spirit of collaboration and entrepreneurship to enable growth in business between India and the US.

The US Consulate in Chennai also took the opportunity to display rare pictures tracing the history of America and the growth and evolution over the years via photographs and videos. The event commenced with the traditional singing of National anthems of India and the US. This was followed by an address by the US CG of South India, Ms Marianna who warmly welcomed the gathering. She spoke about the long and rich history of America and the strong relations the two nations share. She said she is keen to contribute towards promoting trade between the two nations and said she was very hopeful that the engagement is getting strong and will open the doors for business opportunites and growth.

This was followed by an address by the US Ambassador to India Mr Sergio Gor. He started by sharing that he met the Tamil Nadu Honorable Chief Minister Mr Joseph C Vijay and exchanged pleasantries and promises to collaborate and contribute towards strengthening the trade relations between Tamil Nadu and the US as a part of the Indo US trade relations. He spoke highly of the influence of India in the world trade order and shared his appreciation of the contribution India is making to the world. 

This was followed by a speech by the Tamil Nadu Minister for Sports and Public Works Dept, Mr Aadhav Arjuna. He congratulated the US for 250 years of freedom. He also reassured the support of the Tamil Nadu Govt. in promoting trade between TN and the US. 

As the Chaiperson of the Indo American Chamber of Commerce I got an opportunity to engage with the US Consul Generat South, Ms Marianna Nieusler, her team and with industry leaders such as Mr Ravichandran Purushothaman, President of Danfoss and Chairperson of the Confederation of Indian Industry. Apart from this, I also met and interacted with Ms Suneeta Reddy, Managing Director of Apollo Hospitals and Ms Preetha Reddy, Vice chairperson of the Apollo Hospitals Group. I also met Dr Archana Prasad, the Prinicipal of MOP Vaishnav College for Women, Chennai, and Dr Saundarya Rajesh, Managing Director at Avtar - Leaders in Workplace, Culture & Inclusion.

I also met and invited Ms Gangapriya Chakraverti, India Site Head & Managing Director, Ford Motor Company.

From the Government side I was fortunate to meet the Minister for Sports and Public Works Dept Mr Aadhav Arjuna and invite him to attend the Indo US Trade & Investment Summit in Chennai on July 30th.

I was able to connect with leading business leaders and talk about the work I do via Herizon Advisory and also about the efforts that Indo American Chamber of Commerce is taking towards enhancing cooperation, catalyzing trade and expanding investment opportunities between the two nations, India and the United States.

In summary, the Freedom 250 event was a grand success which helped strengthen the engagement between the two nations with representatives from the Government, private sector, social sector, academia and civil society to harness the talent and energy across the two nations to the benefif of both the countries. It gives massive opportunities to collaborate and grow our business and contribute to the economic growth of the two nations.

By Geetha Ramamoorthi

Keywords: Economics, International Relations, Public Relations

Follow Us On