By : PARTHA ROY
Place : Kolkata & Mumbai
An interview of Ameya Prabhu (AP) newly elected President of Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) for 2023 – 2024, India’s one of the oldest premier national business Chamber facilitating India’s national industrial policy development to Partha Roy (PR)…..
PR : Mr. Ameya Prabhu , Namaskar , what is your feeling being President of Indian Chamber of Commerce?
AP : I think it’s a great honour to be the President of the Indian Chamber of Commerce, especially as I am the first president who is not from the state of West Bengal and to be the president of such an august and such a historic chamber that we were formed in 1925. So it’s a great honour, a lot of responsibility as we tried to make the chamber both more national and also international. So that is a great honour, and I’m really looking forward to it.
PR : What is your vision and action plan for ICC during your Presidency from 2023 – 2024 ?
AP : So as I said, one of the things we are focusing on is to make the chamber more national and more visible throughout the country. So we will be doing more events outside the state of West Bengal, we already do events all over the country, but we’ll be doing larger events across the country opening up offices hopefully in Lucknow in the state of Uttar Pradesh , and also in some of the other states and also setting up international committees for the ICC , partnerships with various chambers around the world, creating a greater spectrum for us and greater visibility, also taking up issues related to sustainable development and growth, because India faces a unique challenge of growing sustainably which no other major economy has faced. So we’ll definitely be taking one of those things.
PR: As ICC is official partner of Government of West Bengal ‘s Bengal Global Business Summit 2023 what role you envisage to bring in Investment in West Bengal as well as setting up new/ green field industry in West Bengal as well as intra -India / inter-state investment/ industry development?
AP: Regarding the Bengal Global Business Summit, so I think ,the state of West Bengal has a lot of opportunity in various sectors. As I keep saying it’s the gateway to the East. So there’s a lot of things we can do. And that’s one of the areas where we can focus on as ICC is to bring investment into the state. And the way to also do that is by working along with the Government of West Bengal to bring in global investors to events from outside and also engage with investors globally and also be a conduit between foreign investors and government to problem solve. So that’s also something we intend to do. And that’s one of the areas that we want to focus on. And I think you said also intra-India. So the way to do that is, of course, we are a national chamber. But one of the ways to do that is to set up our offices across India and bring our members from other states to look at opportunities in state of West Bengal.
PR: As illustrious son of illustrious parents, what specific learning from your father Shri Suresh Prabhu ji , as well as from your mother you think will help you in your new role as President of ICC ?
AP: Of course, I think what I’ve learned from both my mother and my father is first and foremost humility, to be humble in all that we do, and to be God fearing believe in God. Believe in the fact that ultimately we are all elements of a larger design from a superior power. And work under that. So be humble, be God fearing and of course work very, very hard. I think. There’s no substitute for hard work. That’s what my parents always taught me. And there’s no substitute for putting in the long hours. So certainly, we’ll be doing that. And of course, always being true to the job, always being responsible, and of course doing everything to the best of my ability. I think these are the values that are learned. And I think we will certainly be taking that forward.
PR: As polymath Business personality , which industry segments will have your priority attention during your tenure ?
AP : The industry segments focus : first , one segment will definitely be focused on will be sustainability. I think as I said earlier, sustainable growth is very important for India. And we’ll certainly be focusing on sustainability across sectors. Number two is of course focusing on startups and some of the new economy businesses. I think what has happened is due to some of the funding crunch that is there in the world right now, some of the new economy businesses are struggling, so I think they need more support today than ever before. So we’ll be focusing on that. And of course, we have members from the tea business, members from the infrastructure, steel , mining from various sectors of industry. So of course, we will be taking up all the issues that are faced by our members. So I think being an industry body we are across sectors, so I think that’s something that we must take it forward.
PR : Will under your leadership ICC play any role in Cooperative Sector development in India?
AP : Lastly, I think it’s an very important sector, both agri and cooperative are very important sectors. Of course, I’d like to add agri business also as a sector that we’d like to focus on during my tenure, because agri and sustainable agriculture is very important given the challenges that climate change is showcasing. So of course, we will definitely support the cooperative sector. Wherever we can play a role, whatever we can do, will definitely be engaged and I think that also will be an important part of what we do.
(This story has not been edited by News Mania staff and is published from a Media Release)
