Indo-French Chamber Wins Award for Best Solidarity Initiative at CCI France International Awards Ceremony in Paris

The award was received by Ms. Payal S. Kanwar, Director General and Mr. Sumeet Anand, President, IFCCI and the event was attended by 500 global leaders from more than 70 countries in the presence of Mr. Frank Riester, Honorable Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Attractiveness. The annual awards ceremony of the CCI France International aims to recognize excellence of French companies abroad.

On this occasion, the Ambassador of France to India, H.E. Mr. Emmanuel Lenain, said, "I warmly congratulate IFCCI and its members for this well-deserved award. The fact that, among all French Chambers in the world, IFCCI carried out the most outstanding COVID-19 solidarity initiative of all shows how much French companies in India care about their host country and the Indian people. They have chosen to invest, produce and innovate in India and are here for the long run. This commitment marked by solidarity mirrors the excellence of political relations between France and India."

During the second wave of COVID-19 in India, France supported India with a massive solidarity mission launched at the request of the President of the French Republic. The operation was implemented by the Embassy of France in India led along with IFCCI and Team France. During this mission, a total of 55 crores (6.1 million euros) were raised from 55 French and Indian groups for donating 29 state-of-the-art French-made oxygen generating plants to Indian hospitals across the country. Each of these plants makes a 250-bed hospital fully autonomous in oxygen supply. In addition, IFCCI, in partnership with Business France and Ador Powertron, successfully coordinated the delivery of 537 oxygen concentrators from Montpellier, France, to India. The concentrators were dispatched to various locations across the country.

Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Ms. Payal S. Kanwar, Director General, IFCCI said, "IFCCI is extremely proud to receive this prestigious award on behalf of its contributing members and Team France. The unanimous support of our member companies towards the French Solidarity Mission enabled us to make a large impact and help strengthen the healthcare infrastructure in India during the most challenging phase of COVID-19 in India. This shows how deeply our member companies are committed to India."

Guests present at the India table

• Mr. Sumeet Anand, IFCCI President

• Ms. Payal S Kanwar, IFCCI Director General

• Mr. Yohann Samuel, IFCCI Regional Director

• S.E M. Ambassador Ashraf, Ambassador of India to France

• Mr. Aiman Ezzat, CEO, Capgemini

• Mr. Akshay Jaitly, Partner, 262 Advisors

• Mr. Alexandre Ziegler, Senior Executive Vice President, Safran

• Mr. Atul Sodhi, Global Head of Debt Capital Markets, Credit Agricole CIB

• Mr. Coumar Ananda, Managing Partner French Tech Academy India

• Ms. Elisa Khetty, Head of Helma International, India

• Mr. Eric de Poncins, Advisor to the Chairman

• Ms. Irene Hors, Foundation France Asia

• Mr. Joel Verany, Director of DS France

• Mr. Laurent Zenou, Director General, Novair

• Ms. Namita Shah, President, OneTech, TotalEnergies

• Ms Olivia Calvet Soubiran, General Manager France, UJA

• Mr. Sreedhar N, Group CFO, Saint Gobain

• Mr. Stephane Lavigne, Head of Sales and Business Development, Thales (IFCCI VP)

List of Contributing Companies towards the French Solidarity Mission During the 2^nd wave of COVID-19

Accenture, Air France, Airbus, Alstom, Amadeus, Amundi, ARaymond, Armor Group, Atos, BIC Cello, Biomerieux, BNP Paribas, Capgemini, Credit Agricole, Dassault Aviation, Dassault Systemes, EDF, Embalisso, Engie, Evolis, Fondation ADP, Helma International, Hermes, Idemia, Legrand, Link Innovation, Loreal, Michelin, Moet Henessy, Monin, Naval Group, NRB Bearings, Orano, Pernod Ricard, Phosphea (TIMAB), Precia Molen, Radiall, Renault, Robertet, Roquette, Safran, Saint-Gobain, Sanofi, SBI Mutul Fund, Schneider Electric, Serdia Pharmaceuticals, Societe Generale, Sonepar, Sopra Steria, Soufflet Malt India, Technique Solaire, Thales, Total, Velan.