At the 112th Annual General meeting of the Southern India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) held at 4.30 p.m. on 29th August, 2022, at the MAC Hall, SICCI, Mr. Ar Rm Arun was unanimously re-elected as President of the Chamber for a 3rd term, Mr. Ar Rm Arun, is the Honorary Consul of the Czech Republic in Chennai.

Speaking on the occasion Mr. Ar Rm Arun said, "SICCI welcomes the ambitious target Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Thiru. M. K. Stalin set for our State to become a $1T economy by 2030. 19 countries are $1T & above. To achieve $1T we need to surpass Switzerland which is at $842B & others like Belgium, Norway, Taiwan, Poland, etc. Currently we are at par with the Czech Republic & Romania, ahead of New Zealand & Portugal." He further said that the State required 13%-13.5% nominal growth to achieve this goal. During last year we had achieved 14.5%. For next 2 years growth projected was 14%."

Mr. Ar Rm Arun spoke about the challenges in becoming a 1$ Trillion Economy. First, most states do not have economic management capabilities or experience to deal with such huge realities. Secondly, there was a pressing need to satisfy demands of citizens who have moved up the income ladder. These levels of average incomes would put the State at around where China was today. Thirdly, the rise of high value State economies would also expectedly change the federal system dynamics. He further added that Tamil Nadu stood well poised to overcome the above mentioned challenges with sound fundamental fiscal management, competent policy making, high in competition & ease of doing business with all basic raw materials to draw max investments. Tamil Nadu also had the history of social empowerment which would ensure that tide would lift all boats.

Mr. Arun said that SICCI was working closely with the Government of Tamil Nadu in setting up the Electric Vehicles - Centre of Excellence in Chennai as well as the SpaceTech Centre in Gangaikondan in Tirunelveli. He also spoke about the successful Business Delegation to Thailand with 40 members which was the biggest in the history of the Chamber. The Delegation had Meetings with Ministries, Chambers of Commerce, Tamil Sangam, and importantly visits to 2 major Global Expos. SICCI was now planning the next Delegation to the Czech Republic during the first week of October 2022 with the participation of Government of Tamil Nadu Minister & Secretary leading the Delegation.

Speaking about the future plans of SICCI, Mr. Ar Rm Arun said, "In addition to the focus on Robustness and Vibrancy during the last year we have taken on focus on Growth. On an average we have been conducting 9 events of value each month. We have also kick-started new Committees including Women in Industry, Energy, Electric Vehicles, Insurance,etc there by growing from 20 committees to 29 committees. We have been highly active in our engagement with the Governments in State & Centre with one to one meetings with Ministers & Bureaucrats. We have actively started process of visioning our progress for the next 100 years. We plan to continue the quarterly outreach of taking Delegations to global destinations - not only will this open out new Investments into our region, but importantly also open new markets for our companies."

Thiru. T. Mano Thangaraj, Hon'ble Minister for Information Technology, Government of Tamil Nadu spoke on the occasion and said that the Industry and Government Departments are working closely as never before. The ideas and recommendations given by Industry has gone a long way in helping the Government function more effectively. He also announced that ELCOT was working with SICCI's Aerospace & Defence Committee under the Chair of Dr. Mylswamy Annadurai to set up a Drone Training Centre in Gangaikondan in Tirunelveli. He further said that owing to the visionary leadership of the Hon'ble Chief Minister Thiru. M. K. Stalin, excellent Infrastructure, ease of doing business and openness of the Government, investors are consistently choosing Tamil Nadu. He also said that the IT Department was working with Angel Investors and Venture Capitalists to nurture and grow the Startups across the State. The Tamil Nadu Government was also successfully showcasing the State in international forums. All these initiatives would surely help the State fulfill the $1 Trillion Economy vision of the Hon'ble CM.

Thiru. Mano Thangaraj also presented Awards to meritorious Students from various leading Universities. Mr. Masayuki Taga, Consul General of Japan in Chennai was Guest of Honour and spoke on the occasion. Mr. Nitirooge Phoneprasert, Consul General of Thailand in Chennai was recognized for his efforts in promoting Tamil Nadu & Thailand trade. Dr. C. N. Gangadaran, Past-President, SICCI was also honoured for 50 years of service to the Chartered Accountancy Profession.