Mr. George Sibley, Minister Counselor for Economic, Environment, Science and Technology Affairs, the United States Embassy in New Delhi visited the Chamber on 24th October 2013 for a Round Table Discussion on Indo-US relationship in the context of present realities. The interaction was attended by Dr. Alok Roy, Senior Vice President; Mr. Ambarish Dasgupta, Vice President and Mr. P. Roy, Director General, The Bengal Chamber. Other invitees included senior members of the Managing Committee and Energy and Environment Committee of the Chamber.

Mr. Sibley had a candid discussion. According to him, the situation was not as negative as it appeared. US companies have interest in coming to India. However, clarity and transparency in the conduct of business were necessary pre-conditions for B2B cooperation to increase. Commenting on clean energy, Mr. Sibley discussed progress in the various areas of energy and spoke extensively on Shale Gas development in the States although to what extent Shale could be a viable source of energy in India needed to be explored. He also commented on West Bengal as an investment destination and spoke about the perception issue that required to be addressed first. The Q/A with the Minister Counselor was most rewarding as he answered all the diverse queries that the members put forward.

Coming back to the city where he was once the Consul General of the United States, Mr. Sibley wore the Bengal Chamber tie (previously gifted to him during his stint in the city) on the occasion and remarked about his love for the city and the Chamber with which he had extensively interacted in the past and wanted to meet first during his current visit to Kolkata.