Global Investor’s Meet (GIM 2019)

Date: January 23 & 24, 2019 Venue: Chennai Trade Centre, Chennai

Activity report

Indo-American Chamber of Commerce as a partner organization supported the Government of Tamil

Nadu in hosting the Global Investor Meet (GIM 2019) held on January 23-24, 2019 at Chennai Trade

Center, Chennai.

Encouraged by the success of GIM 2015, the Government of Tamil Nadu geared up for GIM 2019 that

was scheduled during 23rd

and 24th

of January 2019 at Chennai Trade Centre, Chennai, India.

Road shows to the USA

IACC jointly with USISPF organized Road Shows in USA as part of the Tamil Nadu State Government

delegation to the USA from 29th

October to 3rd November 2019.

One to one meetings were organized with American companies in the Cities Washington D.C.,

Detroit and San Francisco. A seminar on “Invest in Tamil Nadu” was organized in San Francisco

with an overwhelming participation of over 100 plus numbers represented by start-ups & Young

entrepreneurs, Tamil Mandram and Indian Diaspora.

Welcome Reception to host the Industry Delegates:

As Organisation partners, IACC & USISPF jointly hosted a dinner reception to welcome the US

Industry delegation on January 22nd

at Hotel Crowne Plaza, Chennai. Dr. A. Sakthivel, Tamil Nadu

Branch Chairman, Mr. Gnanadesikan IAS., and Mr. Ramkumar, Executive Director of Cognizant

welcomed & addressed the gathering about GIM 2019. Senior Government officials like

Mr. K. Phanindra Reddy IAS, Mr. Rajendra Kumar, IAS., Dr. D. Karthikeyan IAS., Mr. Kumar

Jayant, IAS., and Mr. Robert Burgess, Consul General, United States Consulate General in Chennai,

participated and interacted with the Delegates. The reception was well attended by representatives of

over 30 American companies.

IACC Pavilion

GIM 2019 provided a platform for industrialists, businessmen and entrepreneurs to exhibit their

products and services in order to showcase the presence of prominent local and international companies

in the State. Apart from sector specific stalls, Partner country pavilions were displayed at GIM 2019.

Government of Tamil Nadu allotted a space of 90 Sq. m pavilion to IACC for housing of American

companies. Along with IACC, booth space was taken up by the following 9 companies to display their

products:

Amway India Enterprises Private Limited

Avalon Technologies Pvt Ltd

Caterpillar India Pvt Ltd.,

Dell International Services

Heat and Control (South Asia) Pvt. Ltd

Honeywell International India Pvt. Ltd

Lincoln Electric Company (India) Private Limited

Stanadyne India Pvt Ltd.

Par Formulations Pvt. Ltd.

Dr. A. Sakthivel, Chairman Tamil Nadu Branch was amongst the Special Invitees who had shared the

dais with other Industry dignitaries during the inaugural session. The first day of the session was

inaugurated by the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Shri. Edappadi K. Palaniswami, the

Chief Guest. He termed the second edition of GIM 2019 a grand success and announced that the day

will be remembered as a historic event in the annals of industrialization of Tamil Nadu which attracts

the third highest Foreign Direct Investment in the country. During the session, Hon’ble Union Defense

Minister Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman unveils Tamil Nadu’s Aerospace & Defence Industrial Policy 2019

at the Inaugural session.

Dr. Mukesh Aghi of USISPF led a delegation comprising of representatives from American Companies

to GIM 2019. With participation of over 45 representatives of U.S. companies, the IACC and USISPF

delegation includes- Caterpillar India, NCR Corporation, Stanadyne India Ltd, Federal Mogul, Boeing

India, Dell Technologies, PepsiCo, Johnsons Controls, Honeywell, Exxon Mobil, Emerson, Avaada,

Visteon etc.

The Industry Minister Mr. M.C. Sampath, Govt. of Tamil Nadu inaugurated the IACC pavilion and

several senior State Government officials also visited the IACC pavilion and interacted with the

American companies. The stall exhibit provided great branding and visibility for Indo-American

Chamber of Commerce with representatives from over 200 organizations visited and enquired about the

services offered by IACC.

USA Country Seminar:

IACC conducted the USA Country Seminar on Day one of GIM 2019 on the theme “ US Companies in

Tamil Nadu - Experiences and Perspectives”. Mr. K. Phanindra Reddy IAS, Principal Secretary to

Government of Tamil Nadu & Director of Anna Institute of Management was the anchor officer and set

the context for the session. Mr. S. Sundarram, Vice Chairman, IACC and Managing Director, Lincoln

Electric Company (India) Private Ltd made a case study presentation and moderated the session.

Below mentioned are our distinguished panel of eminent speakers who shared their experiences and

highlighted key facets of why to choose Tamil Nadu as a preferred investment destination.

1. Mr. Cdr. Arun Jyoti (Retd), Director-Government Relations India, Honeywell

2. Mr. Manoj Paul, General Manager, Heat and Control (South Asia) Pvt Ltd

3. Mr. Vivekanandan Vanmeeganathan, County Head and M.D., Caterpillar India P Ltd

4. Mr. Muthu Kumaran, Senior VP and Global Delivery Head, Cognizant Digital Business

5. Mr. Pang Weng Fai, Managing Director, Indium Corporation, Asia Pacific Operation, Singapore

Mr. Manoj Desai, Commercial Officer and Ms. Sara Greengrass, Economic Officer from US

Consulate General were amongst the audience.

The grand event concluded on the second day with the Valedictory ceremony Presided by Vice-

President of India Hon’ble Shri. M. Venkaiah Naidu. At GIM 2019, over 300 Memorandums of

Understanding (MoUs) worth Rs 3.4 lakh crores were signed and expected to create job opportunities

for about 10 lakh people in the state.

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