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The Madras Chamber of Commerce & Industry Hosts Fourth Edition of “Phygital 2024: Securing your Business Information in the Digital Era of Cloud & AI”

The Madras Chamber of Commerce & Industry successfully held the fourth edition of “Phygital 2024: Securing your Business Information in the Digital Era of Cloud & AI” on 8th July 2024. Mr T R Kesavan, President, of Madras Chamber, set the tone for the event in his inaugural address, he said, “Cyber security is moving beyond being a small part of a company’s IT component. It is moving into industries, which have traditionally not taken it seriously. In today’s connected world, cyber-security is what keeps business information safe, and ensures continuity of business.”

The Special Guest for the event for the Inaugural session, was Mr. Ramkumar Ramamoorthy, Partner at Catalincs and Former CMD of Cognizant. In his keynote address, Mr. Ramamoorthy highlighted the critical need for enhanced cyber security measures, stating, “According to a recent Forrester report, we have seen increased ransomware attacks on manufacturing and healthcare companies. Given the increased use of IoT and edge computing in areas such as autonomous vehicles and medical health devices, attacks on products, devices, and real-time systems are bound to increase. It’s not just private corporations, but governments also need to increase their cyber vigil and investments. With many national assets including energy grids and dams getting IoT enabled, governments need to up their investment in cyber preparedness and remediation efforts to protect themselves from non-state actors who are hyperactive in an increasingly polarized world.”

The day-long event hosted cyber-security experts from various industries who emphasized the importance of cyber-security in an era where Cloud and AI adoption is accelerating. The experts covered critical topics such as Digital Assets, Digital Trusts, and Strategies to protect business information.

Panel discussions provided in-depth insights on subjects like “Hidden Risks in Cloud and outsourcing your IT and IT-enabled processes”, “Managing Security Threats in your shop floor, IT & OT Automation”, and “Knowing and Complying with IT and cyber security laws and regulations.”

The audience actively engaged with the experts, gaining valuable knowledge and clarifying their queries in this increasingly crucial domain. The event underscored the growing importance of robust cyber-security measures for every company in today’s digital landscape.

RISKS AND CLAIMS by THE MADRAS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

The Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry organized a significant program titled “Lessons from Baltimore: Risks and Claims” on May 13, 2024. The event centered around extracting key insights from the maritime incident in Baltimore, with a specific focus on risks and claims, drawing comparisons to the Suez Canal blockage. This event was co-hosted by the Association of Multimodal Transport Operators of India and the Federation of Freight Forwarders Association in India.

The keynote address was delivered by Dr. Malini Shankar, IAS, Vice Chancellor of the Indian Maritime University, who emphasized the pivotal role of maritime trade, responsible for transporting 75% of global goods. Dr. Shankar emphasized the critical need for documenting such maritime incidents, noting their frequency and the imperative to learn from them. She stressed, “Maintaining documentation of these incidents is essential for understanding legal and policy implications, safeguarding human interests, and preventing future disasters.”

The panel discussion, chaired by Mr. S N Srikanth, CEO & Senior Partner of Hauer Associates, provided a comprehensive overview of the risks, limitations, and liabilities inherent in the maritime industry. Mr. Amitava Majumdar, Managing Partner of Bose & Mitra & Co., Mumbai, a respected expert on maritime law, discussed the challenges and available solutions for situations akin to the Baltimore incident. Mr. Majumdar highlighted the complexity of international dealings involving multiple agencies, stressing the importance of contractual law understanding for shipping stakeholders to ensure adequate protection.

Mr. Muthu Jagannath, Director of NAU Pte Ltd, Singapore, addressed claims management, advocating for preparedness and robust contingency plans within shipping companies. He emphasized the significance of maintaining strong relationships with all involved parties to facilitate swift and amicable dispute resolutions in emergency scenarios.

The event attracted shippers, exporters, importers, and industry leaders who actively participated in a Q&A session with the speakers. The event was also live-streamed nationwide to engage a broader audience.

The event is available to view on our YouTube channel https://youtu.be/fsCtPZgb8ko

Madras Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI) Hosts Successful Event on Rooftop Solar for MSMEs: Path to Decarbonization

The Madras Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI) recently held a special session in collaboration with Auroville Consulting on the topic of “Rooftop Solar for MSMEs: Path to Decarbonization.” This insightful event aimed to highlight the importance of decarbonization and the pivotal role of emission-free energy in transforming industries.

Mr. Suryanarayan Rao, Chairman of the Energy Committee of MCCI, set the tone by emphasizing the significance of decarbonization for industries. Raghav Nandakumar, a lead consultant from Auroville Consulting, addressed the audience on the broader impacts of climate change, stressing the urgent need for technology adoption to achieve carbon neutrality while ensuring sustainable consumption.

During the session, Dr. G Giridhar, Former Director at the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, showcased successful case studies of MSMEs in India that have embraced renewable energy solutions. Mr. K.S. Chandra Sekar (DGM-Chennai, SIDBI) and Mr. S Aravind (CS CSC, State Bank of India) discussed various financial avenues available to MSMEs for transitioning to renewable energy, particularly rooftop solar installations.

A highlight of the event was the presentation by Mr. Frano D’Silva from Auroville Consulting, who introduced ‘Solsavi’, an open-source application aiding households and businesses in estimating renewable energy needs and connecting them with appropriate vendors.

The panel discussion, moderated by Mr. Toine Van Megen (Co-founder, Auroville Consulting), explored challenges and opportunities in renewable energy adoption. Dr. Sagar Agravat (Larsen & Toubro, Chennai) and Dr. S. Sankara Narayanan (Former General Manager, TEDA) emphasized collaborative efforts between government and industries to facilitate the transition to renewable energy.

Mr. Martin Scherfler, co-founder of Auroville Consulting, concluded the event by summarizing key insights and highlighting the financial attractiveness of rooftop solar as a solution aligned with Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) standards.

In his closing remarks, Mr. Scherfler underscored that environmental consciousness is not only a business imperative but also an ethical duty.

The event was attended by industry experts, policymakers, and representatives from various MSMEs, showcasing a strong commitment towards sustainable energy practices.

ROUND TABLE BETWEEN INDIA AND AUSTRALIA ON EMERGING TRENDS IN SKILL REQUIREMENTS IN INDIA

A round table interaction was organized on April 10, 2024 between the delegates of Australia and India by the Australian Trade Commission and the Madras Chamber of Commerce & Industry to discuss the skill requirements in the verticals of energy, education and infrastructure and discuss how mutually beneficial relationships can be cultivated for the same. The discussion was chaired by Mr Leo Bremanis, Australian Investment and Trade Commissioner for South Asia, Mr T R Kesavan, President, MCCI, and Mr Abdul Ekram, Australian Investment and Trade Commissioner.

Mr. Bremanis initiated the session by delineating Australia’s commitment to collaborating with India for future skill development. He emphasized, “India stands as a pivotal partner for global sustainability, and Australia is dedicated to crafting skill enhancement programs for India’s workforce. We are particularly interested in forging alliances in Tamil Nadu, inspired by its vision of attaining a USD 1 trillion economy, and its leadership in automotive, electronics, and renewable energy sectors.”

Industry leaders present shared their thoughts on the topics of how-to bring change to the skill development fields to ensure that everyone was future ready. Sharing his views, Mr Shivaraman, Vice Chairman – Orient Green Power, said, “Technology is changing rapidly and today people are not prepared to handle the demands of renewable energy supply as the skill set is lacking. To be future ready it was important to look at the grassroots requirements in the energy space to ensure that they are future ready.”

Expressing the pressing concern within the infrastructure sector, Mr Praksh Challa, Managing Director, SSPDL Group, said, “We need to develop targeted programs aimed at vocational training to cultivate a pool of highly skilled workers. Today the infrastructure industry is suffering from lack of quality civil engineers and we may need to consider a re-evaluation of the entire curriculum to address this deficiency effectively.”

In proposing strategies to mitigate the skills gap in India, Mr. M Sairam, Associate Director at Athena Informatics, said, “We need to prepare people sustained career growth rather than merely immediate employment. Training programs have to be centred around real-world applications and this approach is pivotal for preparing individuals to fulfil job roles proficiently rather than merely executing tasks.”

Recommendations crystallized into actionable steps, encompassing bridge courses for technology retraining, industry-academia collaborations, curriculum modernization, and a heightened focus on vocational training as a competitive career enhancement tool.

The session was aptly summed up by Mr T R Kesavan, President, MCCI, who stated, “We need to draw out technology maps for the future, these will help us identify what sort of skills are needed to handle the rapidly changing future technology. This proactive approach will improve our ability to identify skill gaps more accurately and equip individuals to adeptly navigate and embrace technological advancements.” He reassured them of the Madras Chamber’s support in identifying and collaborating on pressing areas to begin with.

Following the event, a networking dinner took place, during which the Australian Consul-General, Ms. Silai Zaki, emphasized the importance of collaboration between India and Australia, with a specific focus on Tamil Nadu. She stated, “The skilling sector in Tamil Nadu presents significant opportunities, particularly in emerging fields such as energy and infrastructure. Australia is committed to investing in the Australia-India Future Skills initiative to facilitate collaboration between both countries in pursuit of their ambitious economic objectives. We have observed the establishment of Australian businesses in Tamil Nadu, and we aspire to foster partnerships that will cultivate a skilled workforce, thereby contributing to Tamil Nadu’s economic advancement.”

Comments from the Madras Chamber on the Tamil Nadu Budget 2024-25

A budget focussed on Infrastructure, Skilling and New technology promotion, the Tamil Nadu Budget 2024 presented by Honourable Finance Minister, Thangam Thenarasu, was themed around the seven objectives of the Grand Tamil Scheme.

The Madras Chamber commends the focus on AI and giving it the importance by creating a Tamil Nadu Artificial Intelligence Mission with focussed guidelines for AI in education, employment and medicine.

The commitment to improve our power situation with the promise to set up new pumped storage power stations and generation of 100 billion units of renewable energy for the state is a great move towards clean energy.

Equitable regional development has been a consistent recommendation of the Madras Chamber and the announcements for development of industrial and business parks in Tier II and Tier III cities will definitely give the economy a boost. The dual focus on urban and rural infrastructure development in the areas of metro rail, water and environment conservation is appreciated by the Chamber.

 

The continuous focus on skilling initiatives such as skill labs, re-skilling programs for women, etc. are a welcome move as it would keep Tamil Nadu ahead in attracting investments into the state for its skilled workforce advantage.

 

The promise of employment opportunities through government schemes and wage co-pays scheme to attract Global Capacity Centres (GCC) might be the move we need to brighten employment opportunities.

The Madras Chamber welcomes these initiatives by the Tamil Nadu government detailed in the budget for 2024-25.

T R Kesavan

President, MCCI

Comments from the Madras Chamber on the Interim Union Budget 2024-25

The Interim Budget 2024-25 by the Honourable FM Nirmala Sitaraman has given a resounding boost to the development agenda of the government against global headwinds with importance given to working towards becoming a resilient Indian economy. The focus on infrastructure capex deployment is a welcome move and we appreciate the announced spending of INR 11.11 Lakh Crores, which would be the highest ever outlay from the GDP at 3.4%. The announcements of strengthening the logistics systems through dedicated three corridors for freight railway and increased safety through conversion to Vande Bharat is a welcome move.

The dedication of the government towards innovation with an INR 1 lakh crore corpus with a 50-year low or zero interest loan for innovations by the youth in Deep Tech for defence would help fulfil our self-reliance goals. The recently announced India-Middle East-Europe corridor is going to be game-changer for our economy and the FM stressing on this in her speech has given confidence to the industry.

 

The promise of strengthening the energy sector through a mandate on CBG for transport (PNG) and domestic purposes (CNG piped gas connections), viability gap funding of offshore wind energy for an initial capacity of 1 gigawatt, and the announcement to support rooftop solarization for 1 crore households is appreciated by us.

 

We appreciate the focus to bolster our oil seed economy as this would be a boost to the Agri economy. We agree that the focussed investments in aquaculture and mariculture is the best manner to progress towards the Blue Economy 2.0. Tourism becoming a prominent feature with rating systems, additional services, improved facilities and government support are great moves by the government.

 

Overall, we welcome these initiatives by the government in this interim budget for 2024-24.

 

T R Kesavan

President, MCCI

MATRADE Award to MCCI

The Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry was awarded the MATRADE Appreciation Award 2023 on November 2nd 2023, for the assistance rendered by the Chamber to MATRADE Chennai. MATRADE is a national trade promotion agency under the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) to develop and promote Malaysia’s export to the world.

 

The award was received by Mr J Krishnan, Chair of the International Cooperation Committee of the Madras Chamber. Speaking on the occasion, the secretary general of the Madras Chamber, Ms K Saraswathi said, “The Madras Chamber is proud to receive this award for the trade facilitation services we provided to connect the two regions. The International cooperation working group headed by Mr J Krishnan is very actively pursuing many such activities to promote trade and commerce from our region and helping member companies to reach out to different geographies.”

 

The Madras Chamber continues to work with Trade offices of many countries , arrange for outbound business delegations and establish b2b exchanges with incoming business delegates and educate members on ever changing global market demands

Ghana JET representatives meet the representatives of The Madras Chamber

The Ghana Jobs and Economic Transformation (JET) programme delegation along with representatives of the Ghana Investment Centre, and industry members from Ghana from the automotive, pharmaceuticals and textile sectors met with members of the Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry on October 10, 2023.

 

The main agenda was to discuss the potentials for bilateral trade and Investment between Ghana and Tamil Nadu in particular and India in general. The focus sectors were manufacturing, automobile, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals and textiles. Mr Eugene Tettey Sangmorte, the Team Leader of the UK Ghana JET programme said, “We are here to forge deeper relationships with companies in Tamil Nadu, to take advantage of the burgeoning opportunities in Ghana and the AfCTA (African Continental Free Trade Agreement) through investments, partnerships and bilateral trade agreements.”

 

Mr Edmund Ofoli Onyame, Senior Investment Promotion Officer, Ghana Investment Centre, assured the Tamil Nadu industry representatives, “Ghana is ready to facilitate investment into all key sectors with incentives of tax holidays, import duty waivers and specific policy designed to promote investment and integration with focus sectors.” They also took questions on current trade regulations, export regulations and other concerns that were expressed by the Tamil Nadu industry representatives.

 

The Madras Chamber was part of facilitating this first step in setting up trade relations with Ghana and is also looking forward to a forthcoming trade mission from Tamil Nadu to Ghana to take this relationship forward.

Celebrating The 187th Chamber Day Of The Madras Chamber Of Commerce And Industry

The Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry celebrated its 187th Chamber Day today. The Chamber Day celebration recalled and celebrated the significant contributions of the Madras Chamber to the business and celebrate the significant contribution of the Madras Chamber to the business enterprises of Tamil Nadu through their policy advocacy and rapport with different national and state government departments, institutions, diplomatic missions in Chennai and other major cities in India and abroad.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr T R Kesavan, President, MCCI, said, “Today, we are happy to say that we have 600 + direct members, consisting of large, medium, and small companies, representing “who is who” of business houses in Tamil Nadu and a good number of associated and affiliated members. The Madras Chamber is keenly looking forward to actively partnering with the Tamil Nadu government to bring its trillion-dollar economy to fruition.”

The Chief guest of the evening Mr Shenu Agarwal, MD and CEO of Ashok Leyland, congratulated the Madras Chamber on its 187 years of heritage and said, “It is testament to the Madras Chamber’s impact on the business, community and civil society that it is celebrating this momentous anniversary. Longevity of the Madras Chamber is proof of its good work and essential contributions to the business community of Tamil Nadu.”

The Guest of Honour is Dr Ashok Dalwai, IAS, who is currently serving as the Chairman, Empowered Body on Doubling Farmers Income, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Govt. of India shared his thoughts, “The way forward for any economy to prosper is to focus on employment, environment, and economic development. For the future to be bright we need to now focus on developing our bio and circular economy for a sustainable future.”

The evening was attended by renowned industrialists, and heads of companies who are instrumental in taking forward the work of the Madras Chamber in enhancing business enterprise in Tamil Nadu.

For further information please get in touch with our Media Contact: Christopher Charles | Predict PR | 98424 75706  

HEALTH IN WORKPLACE EVENT ORGANIZED BY THE MADRAS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

The Importance of Health in the Workplace

People spend a large part of their day at their workplace and it is time that organizations recognized the importance of ensuring health of their employees. An essential discussion organised on the topic of “Healthcare in the Workplace” by the Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry, on 16th September 2023, brought to the fore the need to recognize the importance of healthcare across various dimensions in the workplace. The event was ideated by the Healthcare Committee of the Madras Chamber chaired by Mr P V Jaishankar.

The program was inaugurated by Mr Gagandeep Singh Bedi, IAS, Principal Secretary Health and Family Welfare Department, Government of Tamil Nadu. He expressed his delight on the industry engaging in this essential conversation about health in the workplace. He expressed his thoughts on how the industry can partner with the government to elevate healthcare in Tamil Nadu. He said, “It is important that industry partners with the Government to ensure better healthcare at all levels. It can be through PPP model partnerships, contributions through CSR activities and donations, and creating awareness about the Tamil Nadu government’s health initiatives, such as CM Health Insurance Scheme, and the flagship Innuyir Kaapom Thittam – Nammai Kaakum – 48, to their employees.” Mr Gangandeep Singh Bedi made a special request to the MCCI President, Mr T R Kesavan to ensure industries are made aware of these various schemes and extend their support.

“Homes have become workplaces today with a shift brought in during the pandemic and one of the biggest things sacrificed due to this is sleep,” pointed our Mr T S Surendran, Chairman, Sankara Nethralaya, the special address speaker who encouraged people to take essential steps towards preventive healthcare.

The special address speaker, Dr P V Jayasankar spoke about the important of ensuring safe and enabling work environment, he said, “We need to appreciate our most important resource – the human resource, by ensuring the quality of the physical and mental environment in the workplace.”

The four panel discussions with experts from across various industries highlighted the importance of engaging in conversations of mindful workspaces, preventive healthcare practices, importance of sleep and nutrition, safe work environments and creating gender sensitive work practices. Experts spanning across various industries including manufacturing, healthcare, IT and services shared their thoughts on how we can we work towards creating workplaces that encourage health on a physical and mental level or their employees at every grade. Dr Iyappan Ponnusamy, Co-Chair of the Healthcare committee of the MCCI concluded the session  by encapsulating the importance of this session in the current industry scenario and promised to take forth the recommendations of the discussions to the industry.