Dr. Alok Roy, President and members of The Bengal Chamber Secretariat visited Bihar Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) at Patna on 16th March 2015 and the Rourkela Chamber of Commerce and Industry at Rourkela on 17th March 2015. The visits were part of the outreach activity of the Bengal Chamber to promote the newly minted Confederation of Eastern Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CECCI). Both the Chambers of Commerce extended a warm welcome and were extremely positive and encouraging towards the concept, principles of operation and the formation of CECCI.
At the meeting in Patna, from the Bihar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. O.P. Sah, President, along with their Immediate Past President Mr. P K Agarwal and other office bearers, was present. The President was joined by Mr. S D Gupta, Chairperson, Trade Promotion and Business Development Committee and Mr. Prakash Shah, Chairperson, Exhibitions and Trade Fairs Committee of the Bengal Chamber. The senior members of both the Chambers acknowledged and reiterated that it was the most opportune moment for businesses in the Eastern Region to connect amongst ourselves in order to realize the Region’s true potential as a market and also to reaffirm the brand ‘East.’ They agreed that it was important to create a robust forum that would address the common regional issues and cross-border commerce.
The meeting at Rourkela Chamber of Commerce and Industry was attended by Mr. Subrata Pattnaik, President, Mr. Moloy Mandal, General Secretary, other Office Bearers and Chamber Members. Around 30 members were present in the meeting held in the Chamber premises. They too expressed their concerns on different regional issues ranging from taxation to logistics. Dr. Alok Roy, President of the Bengal Chamber shared with them that all their concerns pertaining to inter-State Commerce and business processes and procedures would be addressed by CECCI. He reiterated that the formation of CECCI was a very crucial step towards bringing together the markets and opportunities in the East especially in the context of creating access to shared and common resources.