During The Managing Committee Meeting on 24th June 2021, BCC&I President formally introduced Ms. Patricia Hoffman, the Consul General of the United States of America for the Kolkata Consular District who had taken charge in August 2018, to the Managing Committee Members. Ms. Hoffman had come over from Washington DC and after having served in places like London, Quito and Rio de Janerio. 

In his Welcome Address, the President spoke about the close working relationship of The Bengal Chamber with the US Consulate General and the US Commercial Centre, Kolkata.  He also highlighted the initiatives which had been taken up by The Chamber with the Consulate during her tenure and in the past as well. 

Ms. Hoffman expressed her sincere thanks and appreciation to The Chamber for having invited her for an interaction as she was preparing to move out of Kolkata at the conclusion of her tenure. She was happy to take the opportunity to reflect on the growing India-US relationship and to express her appreciation to The Bengal Chamber for its valued partnership in strengthening bilateral economic ties in Eastern India. She thankfully acknowledged the support extended by The Chamber in 2019 during the visit of the high-profile Trade Winds business delegation from the US and for the support extended during the programme ‘Zoohackathon-2019’, which addressed issues of wildlife trafficking. 

Ms. Hoffman’s engrossing address covered several aspects ranging from Indo-US bilateral relations, Covid-19 and vaccination related partnerships, partnership in the sustainability sphere, climate change and clean energy related matters to the eclectic experiences from her extensive tours to all the districts of the State of West Bengal as well as the North and the North East. The highlights are given below: 

• India-US strategic partnership had continuously improved over the last few decades and the last 4 years had seen an acceleration of the diplomatic co-operation, which had inspired the leadership of the two countries to declare this as a Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership in February 2020. 
• The United States had continued to co-operate with India at the highest levels on many fronts including defense, climate change, energy, trade and investment, environment, health, education, science and technology, agriculture, space, oceans and many more. 
• The Consul General spoke in detail about the strong COVID related collaborations between the two countries, partnerships built and support extended with regard to vaccines, technologies, training and other aspects. 
• She spoke at length on the bilateral efforts to address issues concerning climate change, clean energy partnerships and cross-border power issues in India as also the USAID’s Forest Management Projects and programmes with the Ministries of Environment & Forest and Climate Change of India.
• The Consul General spoke about the encouraging trend of growth in bilateral trade and investments between the two countries, substantiating the same statistically. 

In conclusion, the Consul General once again thanked everyone present and The Chamber for the support extended to the US Consulate over the years and hoped that her successor would also continue receiving the same going ahead, reiterating that it was her pleasure to have interacted with many business leaders during her tenure in Kolkata. 

The Consul General’s address was followed by an Open House Session. 

The Meeting concluded with the President extending his appreciation and sincere thanks to Ms. Patricia Hoffman for having spared her time and for sharing her thoughts. The President, on behalf of all Members of The Chamber and on his personal behalf, conveyed his good wishes to Ms. Hoffman for all her future endeavours going forward.