The 158th Annual General Meeting of the Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry was held on 25th September 2015. The Business Session was held at the Conference Hall of the Chamber at 3 p.m. Mr.C.S.Kartha (Opal Asia India Pvt.Ltd) was re-elected as the Chamber President for 2015-16 and Mr.Shaji Varghese (ACM Logistics Pvt. Ltd) as the Vice President. The Public Session of the AGM was later held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Maradu, Ernakulam. A panel discussion ˜Emerging Kochi ™ was also organised in connection with the AGM. Mr.T.N.Neelakantan, Petronet LNG Terminal, Mr. Hrishikesh Nair, CEO-Infopark were the Chief Guests of the day and the Chamber Past President Mr. Venugopal C. Govind (Varma and Varma) was the moderator. Mr. C. S. Kartha delivered the Presidential address and welcomed the guests to the Public Session. In his speech, he said that a concerted effort of the Government, trade associations and the people of the State to make Kerala State vibrant enough to catch the investors ™ eye. Mr. Kartha mentioned that intention of the Chamber is to transform Kerala into an entrepreneurial society from a wage earning society that will make the economy vibrant, inclusive and promotes sustainable economic growth in order to achieve global standards in every domain. He also expressed Chamber ™s deep concern about the recent happenings in the plantation sector and their fall out. The President extended all support for ˜Make In India ™ initiative. Mr. Kartha remarked that neither the Centre nor the State seems to be concerned about the performance of ICTT terminal, which was showcased as a major project that will transform the entire port city of Kochi.He requested the Central Ministry to intervene in the matter immediately. Mr.Venugopal C. Govind was the Moderator of the programme ˜Emerging Kochi ™. He briefed about the past and the present of the Kerala economy and how some of the successful projects were envisaged. Mr. Govind emphasised the importance of focussing the growth of SMEs which contributes to nearly 40% of India exports. He also mentioned about the significant role the Companies in Cochin can play to boost the State ™s economy. Mr.T.N.Neelakantan, Petronet LNG Terminal spoke about the challenges faced by the mega project in Kerala. He said that operationalising the Cochin Plant is crucial for the State to be part of the national pipeline grid. Mr.Neelakantan requested the support of the business community for making this project a success. Mr.Hrishikesh Nair,CEO Infopark spoke about the challenges he had faced in setting up of the project in Cochin.He said that IT is the only industry that can provide maximum employment using minimum space.He did mention about the importance of having ˜single window clearances ™ for infra projects and illustrated with his experience at the IT park. Mr.Nair also spoke about the investments that are happening at the second phase of Infopark and his company ™s expansion plan for next 5 years. Mr.Shaji Varghese ,Vice President,CCCI delivered the vote of thanks. The public session was attended by more than 100 Chamber Members.