December 5, 2000 -- The Board of Directors of the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston (IACCGH) held their annual dinner meeting with the Honorary Board of Advisors on Tuesday, December 5 at Rice University’s Faculty Club. The Advisors present at the dinner were Honorable Rinzing Wangdi, Consul General of India, Dr. Malcolm Gillis, President of Rice University, Mr. Michael Capellas, CEO of Compaq Computer Corp., and Mr. George Hrdlicka, principal partner of Chamberlain, Hrdlicka et al.

Dr Malcolm Gillis welcomed the gathering. "We share many things in common," he said, "including a strong interest in developing and strengthening economic, technological and social relationships between India and the United States. Most Americans know far too little about Mother India. They need to know that the US is only the world’s second largest democracy. Since its Independence, India has been the world’s largest democracy. Americans need to know that India has a rich and long and varied history and her culture goes back several millennia. It is a land of boundless promise in everything human and in everything natural.

"In fact, Indian society and the Indian economy has become dramatically more visible in the last two decades. The country has moved from the old standbys of textiles and leather goods and vehicles to new standbys in software and electronics. India is staking her claim for a larger share in the world market and leadership in that market, including high technology," Dr Gillis added.

Dr Gillis invited the IACCGH to take advantage of the resources available at Rice. He also invited Dr Durga Agrawal, President of the IACCGH, and members of the Board to meet with him in early February to discuss the International University of Bremen, which is being patterned on Rice.

Dr. Agrawal presented an overview of the various activities that the Chamber had undertaken since its inception in September 1999. He emphasized the Chamber’s goals, namely to promote business ties, youth leadership and entrepreneurship. Plans were already being made for organizing Compaq Night, the annual fund-raising gala. Dr. Agrawal laid special emphasis on the Chamber’s hugely successful Student Internship Program, which will be able to offer more than 70 placements with leading corporations and institutions in Houston and India to the community’s youth next summer.

Honorable Rinzing Wangdi told the gathering that IACCGH has a definite role to play as a focal point to promote interaction with the community here. "India has emerged as a powerful market with a consumer base of over 1 billion people, and software already accounts for 15% of our exports."

Mr. Wangdi pointed out that a definite pattern was emerging in India, where the success stories were no longer in old-style manufacturing but in the software sector, media, aviation, telecommunications and energy. "Most of the success stories we hear about are of people with no business pedigree, no inherited wealth and often no management degree," Mr. Wangdi said. "The lessons to be learned from these success stories is that enough enterprise exists and the future does not lie in old style manufacturing, but whoever is bold enough to venture forth can get the golden pie. This is definitely an Indian picture of strength and the Houston community can capitalize on this."

Mr. Michael Capellas commended the Chamber’s efforts and said: "Any organization in itself has some basic values and the power of mobilizing these smaller communities is absolutely unbelievable. These communities can be mobilized into a force that can do incredible things. You have traditionally kept your sense of community. Keep it, value it, cherish it, use it wisely and never underestimate its power.

"The evolution of Indian software development in terms of technical skills and the commercial success has been well chronicled. The real challenge that we have in computation and computation science is to solve problems that we have not yet solved. Where do we go with computation to solve the next generation’s problems?" he asked.

Mr. Capellas made reference to the ongoing debate about whether there was a shortage of skilled manpower in the fields of Information technology. "While there is much talk of a critical shortage of skilled people, we have declining participation of women in technical skills. We have seen three straight years of decline. We have a largely untapped resource and I encourage you to reach out as actively as you can through your internship program."

Mr. Capellas also formally invited Dr Gillis and Mrs. Elizabeth Gillis to accompany him on his forthcoming visit to India. Mr. Capellas assured the Chamber that Compaq would continue to expand its internship program and would offer more permanent positions and job guarantees to interns. He urged the Chamber to expand its charter to make it a coalition of government, business and education working together. "Don’t be afraid to expand your boundaries, don’t be afraid to bring young people together."

Mr. George Hrdlicka complimented the IACCGH on the remarkable progress it had made in its first year. "Houston is fortunate to have a group of people like yourselves integrating yourselves into our society," he said. "A new organization needs three things. Firstly, it needs a vision. Secondly it needs leadership, and thirdly it needs patience. You don’t want to be like a shooting star, which shoots up, gets very bright and then disappears. The way to avoid being a shooting star is to have a long-term understanding that to get where you want to go you’re not going to have immediate results.

"Most of us like instant gratification, but it just doesn’t happen. Realistically, you cannot expect to have meaningful returns on your investment for 5 to 10 years. Your leadership and your constituency needs to understand that. they have to be investing not for immediate returns but for a return over a period of time," Mr. Hrdlicka concluded.

Mr. Jagdip Ahluwalia, Secretary of IACCGH, moderated the evening’s program and Mr. Ashoke Nath, Director, proposed a vote of thanks.