Bengal Chamber collaborates with IAICC to promote SMEs
Kolkata: A MoU was signed between the Bengal Chamber and the Indian American International Chamber of Commerce (IAICC) to provide business advisory services to small and medium enterprises of India and USA.
The collaboration aims to facilitate B2B links between American businesses and their Indian counterparts of East and north-east.
Subhodip Ghosh, director general, the Bengal Chamber, Ambarish Dasgupta, founder and senior partner, Intueri Consulting LLP, A Mukherjee, senior vice-president, The Bengal Chamber, Patricia Hoffman, Consul General of The United States of America in Kolkata, K V Kumar, chairman and CEO of IAICC and other delegates were present during the MoU signing.
"The Bengal Chamber has always been at the forefront to provide platforms for business links irrespective of geographical boundaries and Kumar has served in Trump campaign's Asian American and Pacific Islander Advisory Council. Being an authority on government relations, alliance building, crisis management and his long association with the World Bank, his visit would be integral for forging business developments between America and India. We have signed an MoU with IAICC to create a joint council to offer services to stake holders in form of B2B links and advisory services for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Whenever, a delegation would come from the US, Kolkata would be a stopover," said Subhodip Ghosh, director general, The Bengal Chamber.
KV Kumar said: "The IAICC is seeking to open offices in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Dubai, Hong Kong and 30 chapters in the US itself. We are looking forward to creative and innovative ways of doing business. There are about 600,000 Indian-American businesses in the US. West Bengal being strategically placed is ideal to act as a gateway to accessing markets in the ASEAN countries. At present, we are working in four states in India where each state has made a Chamber of Commerce a platform to create business links. We are putting up an innovative challenge — a new platform for doing business, which is part virtual and part real, where businesses are initiated through virtual media between traders, buyers, sellers establishing B2B links that later involves personal meet ups and visits to check products or services. We are going to invite Amit Mitra, West Bengal state minister of Finance and IT, and Electronics, Industry, Commerce, Enterprise and E-governance and MSME to USA on August 30 to attend a business forum where the innovative ideas would be introduced."
The IAICC works with entrepreneurs, professionals, businesses and governments to develop entrepreneurship and commerce through mentor-protégé programmes, training, seminars and networking opportunities.
