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Padma Vibhushan Dr. Mashelkar Keynotes 6th annual USA India Business Summit

L to R: Ani Agnihotri, Co-Chair, UIBS; Jim Hoadley, Scheller College of Business, Georgia Tech & GT CIBER; Thomas A. Strauss, Southern Regional Director, U.S. Department of Commerce/International Trade Administration; Hala Moddelmog, President and CEO, the Metro Atlanta Chamber (MAC); Padma Vibhushan Dr. R.A. Mashelkar, F.R.S., President of Global Research Alliance; Consul Srinivasan, Consul, Consulate General of India, Atlanta; Scott McMurray, Division Director for Global Commerce, Georgia Department of Economic Development, State of Georgia and Jonathan S. Goldberg, International Trade Specialist, Office of South Asia, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C. Photo by Vinod Devlia.

Atlanta, GA: The 6th annual USA India Business Summit (UIBS) & 21th annual Georgia Tech Global Business Forum  (GTGBF) was successfully held at Georgia Tech on October 19-20, 2015. This second largest event of its type (promoting US-India business) has gained “A” class event stature among speakers from India and the US. This year’s keynote speakers included Padma Vibhushan Dr. R.A.    Mashelkar, President, Global Research Alliance (Creating a culture of “Frugal Research, Development and Innovation”), Jonathan S. Goldberg, International Trade Specialist, Office of South Asia, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C. (USA and India Trade: Opportunities for US Companies), and Ramesh Srinivasan, CEO, Innotrac Corporation (Global R&D and Innovation – India’s Growing Role). Other notable speakers included – Jan Willem Breen, VP, International Strategy, UPS Europe, Aniket Maindarkar, Head Infosys BPO in Americas, Pavan Bhalla, EVP, Business Optimization, AON Hewitt, Anil Khatod, General Partner & MD, Argonaut Private Equity  and Peter Casey, Executive Chairman, Claddagh Resources.

In the wake of the recent visit of Prime Minister Modi to the United States in September 2015,  the landscape governing US-India trade and investment relations has vastly improved and promises to be one of the most salient  economic relationships in the immediate future, said UIBS Co-Chair, Ani Agnihotri.  “As India undertakes reforms in its markets, their regulation and access,  the policy adopted by its government—termed “Chalein  Saath Saath: Forward Together We Go”– is a direct signal that the US.-India  broad-spectrum relationship is one of the keystones of the reform process in India.  This annual summit therefore is in the very lines pursued in the bilateral relationship, building on the six pillars of mutual interest, broadly defined as economy, trade and agriculture, science and technology; health and innovation, education and development,  energy and climate change; and strategic cooperation,” he said.

“Witness to this process are  the bilateral trade levels  between the United States and India which hover around US$ 100 billion a  year, registering a continuous growth while U.S. direct investment in India is evaluated at some $25 billion, representing almost 6% of the total FDI into India.  It is precisely the nature of this investment strategy by leading U.S. firms and its very country origin which provide an additional support to the sustained high level of domestic fixed capital formation in India. At the same time, it must be noted that Indian investment in the U.S .has similarly risen; nearly seventy major Indian corporations, have invested nearly US$ 17 billion in the U.S. economy.   The trend is under way and deserves a full measure of recognition.   A negotiation is now under way between both countries to build the foundation of mechanisms to resolve divergences in the wake of rising commercial investments,” Agnihotri added.

Photo by Vinod Devlia.

“The right time in India is now; at the very moment the world economy may not have reached its expected levels of growth for year 2015  and as the rules of the game are being redefined,” Agnihotri said. “Indian markets are taking off with new actors in a fast reconfigured global economy.  As always, UIBS opens the vistas on which to build sound corporate and entrepreneurial decisions.  Over 400 participants in two days gained a lot of mutual learning resulting in new opportunities.”

The sessions on Day 1 of the summit culminated in the awards reception. Dr Mashelkar, Consul D.V Singh and John McIntyre, UIBS program co-chair presented awards to five deserving business leaders. Tino Mantella, President & Chief Executive Officer of Technology Association of Georgia was honored with the Supporter Organization of UIBS award. Atlanta attorney Chandler Sharma was presented the Community Builder Award;  J.P Morgan the Friends of UIBS award; Sanjeev Tirath of Pyramid Consulting the USA-India Business Collaboration award and Pramod Sajja of Paramount Software the Outstanding Business Leader award. Earlier in the day, UIBS presented its 1st Lifetime Achievement Award to Dr Mashelkar.

The two-day long summit included sessions on Global Disruption & Shifts, Opportunities in Biotech and Health Sciences, Megatrends in Innovation and R&D, Opportunities in Education and Corporate Training, Skill Development and Training, Smart Manufacturing and Innovation, Immigration Issues Impacting US-India Business Operations and Cloud Computing Big Data & Cyber Security.

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