Hyderabad.. The Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Chapter of Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC) celebrated 242nd American Independence Day here in the city Tuesday evening in a city hotel .

Shailendra Kumar Joshi, Chief Secretary, Govt of Telangana; Katherine Hadda, Consul General, Consulate General of the United States of America, Hyderabad; Suresh Chukkapalli, Chairman, Phoenix Group and Honorary Consul General of Korea, Telangana;  Jayesh Ranjan , Principal Secretary IT&ES, Govt of TS and several others participated

in the celebrations.

1. Purnachandra Rao, Regional President IACC giving his opening remarks said in every hospital, manufacturing company there is an Indian in America. Nearly 3 million Indians live in America. 80 per cent of American working Visas are issued in India and Hyderabad leads there.

IACC lead by Srikanth Badiga, its Chairman; Vijayasai Meka, Vice Chairman  and other office bearers also graced the function. Welcoming the gathering Srikanth BADIGA highlighted among other initiatives IACC working on includes Mentoring Women Working from homes

IACC exchanged MoU with Gurpreet Bhatia, State Project Officer of UNDP.

IACC is acting as a bridge between India and USA. Looking at Catherine Hadda, US Consular General, Dr. Shailendra Kumar Joshi, Chief Secretary said you are three times older than us. But we have 5000 years old ancient civilisation.

Three things are common to both the countries—Dreams, Diversity and Democracy. We are the largest functional democracy and you are the oldest, he said.

Speaking on the occasion Jayesh Ranjan said there is special bonding forged between US and Telangana in the last 4 years. Many American companies in multiple sectors such as Pharma, Defence and Aerospace  with increasing intensity are engaging with local companies or working on collaborations.

Speaking on the occasion Katherine Hadda said, “India and the United States have much more to offer to the world, including the ideals of justice, freedom, liberty, prosperity, and pluralism.  Fundamentally, we are bound by a shared political philosophy on the relationship between citizens and their government.”

“Our strategic defense partnership is stronger than ever.  In just two weeks, on July 6, the United States and India will hold its inaugural 2+2 dialogue in Washington DC, where the U.S. Secretaries of State and Defense and the Indian Ministers of External Affairs and Defense will meet to discuss how we can continue to strengthen our strategic and security ties.  There is still more work to be done to expand the bilateral relationship, and dialogues such as this are essential to the process.”, she informed.

“The Indian diaspora, and especially the Telugu-speaking community, have long played a major role in bringing our societies closer together.  According to the 2012-2016 American Community Survey, Telugu is the third most widely spoken Indian language and the 20th most spoken language in the United States.  I am often told that every fourth person here has family ties in the United States, though based on my many encounters with people here and in Andhra Pradesh, I’m starting to suspect that may be an underestimate!  Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are also among the states in India that send the largest number of students to the United States.”, Catherine stated.

 “It is a pleasant coincidence, Catherine Hadda added that the IACC celebrated its 50th anniversary in late 2017, just as the United States and India were celebrating 70 years of friendship.  As we celebrate America’s Independence Day, I would like to take this opportunity to renew our commitment to the IACC, and to the governments of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, to support greater collaboration and economic cooperation between our two countries. “

Suresh Chukkapally, Honarary Consul General of Korea in Telangana PHOENIX Group said that they were keen to work with US Consular General as it is our focus area as well

250 industry leaders, IACC members graced the celebrations.

IACC was established in 1968. It is the apex bi-lateral Chamber synergizing India-US Economic Engagement. It was started by Ambassador Chester Bowles along with the then Industry leaders and visionaries like Mr. S L Kirloskar, Mr. Harish Mahindra, Mr. H. P. Nanda, Mr. Ambalal Kilachand, Mr. A. M. M. Arunachalam, Mr. Frederick Fales and Mr. John Oris Sims for enhancing US India Economic Engagement.  IACC is one of the Chapters representing AP and Telangana State.

Today IACC has pan India presence with 2400 members, representing cross section of US and Indian Industry.

IACC’s vision is “To be the principal bilateral chamber committed to the promotion of industrial, economic, business and commercial activities between the united states of America and India”

And it’s Mission is to act as a catalyst in promoting economic growth between the two countries and to protect and promote the collective bilateral needs and interests of the Indo-US business community. And also lobby with two governments on significant bilateral issues affection Indo-US commerce

The Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC), has set a target of $500 billion through bilateral trade between India and US, by 2022.