Washington, February 2, 2024
The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) is thrilled to welcome to its Board of Directors, Mr. Joe Ucuzoglu, Deloitte Global CEO, Mr. Raj Shah, Co-CEO, MSI Surfaces, Mr. Alex Rogers, President of Global Affairs and Qualcomm Technology Licensing for Qualcomm Incorporated, and Mr. Prashant Ruia, Director, Essar Capital.
Mr. Joe Ucuzoglu who succeeded Mr. Punit Renjen as Deloitte Global CEO in January 2023 also replaces Mr. Renjen on USISPF’s Board. As Global CEO of the largest professional services organization in the world, Mr. Ucuzoglu remains actively engaged with many of Deloitte’s clients as well as a range of external stakeholders, working to ensure that Deloitte is consistently leveraging the full breadth of its services to deliver impactful results for clients and communities.
Mr. Prashant Ruia is a second-generation entrepreneur of the Ruia family that founded Essar. He has been an integral part of Essar’s operations and management since 1985, playing a key role in driving the growth, diversification, and value creation, both within India and internationally. Under his leadership, Essar is transitioning its existing assets towards a greener economy and investing in sector-transforming sustainable businesses.
Mr. Rajesh (Raj) Shah, along with his brother Mr. Rupesh Shah is President and Co-CEO at MS International, a leading importer and distributor of countertops, flooring, wall tile, and landscaping products in North America. The company was started in 1975 by Raj’s parents, Manu and Rika Shah, founders of MSI, and first-generation immigrants to the United States.
Mr. Alex Rogers has been in numerous leadership roles since joining Qualcomm in 2001. Currently, he is a member of the Company’s executive committee and is responsible for government and public affairs, export compliance, corporate responsibility and leads Qualcomm’s patent licensing business.
Speaking on the recent appointments to the USISPF Board, USISPF President and CEO, Dr. Mukesh Aghi said: “The additions of Joe, Alex, Prashant, and Raj accentuate the growing synergy in U.S.-India ties across fields of critical and emerging technology, especially in semiconductors to deepening trade relations and collaborating in new domains in hydrogen and biofuels to build a clean energy economy. 2023 was a monumental year, with the success of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit and President Biden’s visit to India for a successful G20 Summit. With our ever-expanding Board and new captains of industry and distinguished leaders from the private sector, USISPF is better positioned than ever to build on the commercial and geostrategic aspects of the partnership in 2024.”
Commenting on his addition to the USISPF Board, Mr. Joe Ucuzoglu, Deloitte Global CEO added: “I am thrilled to join the Board of USISPF, an organization that is key to strengthening the partnership between the U.S. and India and providing an important platform for stakeholders to come together to create meaningful opportunities for business, government and society overall.”
Mr. Alex Rogers, President of Global Affairs and Qualcomm Technology Licensing for Qualcomm Incorporated spoke about the importance of U.S.-India technology ties and said “The U.S. and India are uniquely positioned to use connectivity, processing, and artificial intelligence to advance the public good and stimulate economic growth. Qualcomm technologies and employees have been an integral part of India’s digital revolution over the past 25 years. We are proud to be part of the solution as digitization transforms the lives of people everywhere, whether it is how they work, connect, socialize, or interact with the environment.”
USISPF Chairman John Chambers congratulated the new appointees and added: “After all the groundbreaking accomplishments 2023 brought for the U.S.-India partnership, I’m excited for the new year with the addition of these well-accomplished leaders to the USISPF Board. Alex, Prashant, Raj, and Joe will add even more breadth to USISPF’s roster of private sector experts, underscoring the passion from Fortune 250 companies to increase relations and business pursuits between the U.S. and India. These exciting appointments – along with others we’ve announced this year – position us for even greater success in the years to come.”
Commenting on his appointment to the Board of Directors, Mr. Ruia thanked USISPF Chairman John Chambers and USISPF President and CEO, Dr. Mukesh Aghi and said: “I am thrilled to step onto the prestigious platform of the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) as a member of its Board of Directors. This appointment resonates with the mutual commitment to advancing stronger economic ties between the United States and India. I look forward to leveraging my experience to enhance collaboration, drive innovation, and further strengthen the strategic partnership between these two great nations, especially in fostering sustainability and ESG. We find ourselves in a momentous period for the diplomatic ties between the United States and India, and I am pleased to contribute to this significant endeavor.”
Mr. Raj Shah, Co-CEO, MSI Surfaces, spoke about what the U.S.-India relationship personally means to his family’s success story and said: “India is playing an integral role in manufacturing and providing services to consumers in the United States. We look forward to working with the USISPF Board to continue to strengthen ties between the U.S. and India”.
About the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF):
The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) is committed to creating the most powerful partnership between the United States and India. As the only independent not-for- profit institution dedicated to strengthening the U.S.-India partnership in Washington, D.C., and in New Delhi, USISPF is the trusted partner for businesses, non-profit organizations, the diaspora, and the governments of India and the United States.
About Deloitte:
Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL), its global network of member firms, and their related entities (collectively, the “Deloitte organization”). DTTL (also referred to as “Deloitte Global”) and each of its member firms and related entities are legally separate and independent entities, which cannot obligate or bind each other in respect of third parties. DTTL and each DTTL member firm and related entity is liable only for its own acts and omissions, and not those of each other. DTTL does not provide services to clients. Please see www.deloitte.com/about to learn more.
Deloitte provides industry-leading audit and assurance, tax and legal, consulting, financial advisory, and risk advisory services to nearly 90% of the Fortune Global 500® and thousands of private companies. Our people deliver measurable and lasting results that help reinforce public trust in capital markets, enable clients to transform and thrive, and lead the way toward a stronger economy, a more equitable society, and a sustainable world. Building on its 175- plus year history, Deloitte spans more than 150 countries and territories. Learn how Deloitte’s approximately 457,000 people worldwide make an impact that matters at www.deloitte.com.
About MSI:
MSI was founded in 1975 and has grown to over $2.8 billion in annual revenue and supports over 400,000 jobs worldwide. MSI is the leading nationwide distributor of flooring, countertop, wall tile, and hardscaping products in North America. Headquartered in Orange, California, MSI maintains over 45 state-of-the-art showrooms and distribution centers across the US and Canada, with domestic manufacturing facilities for Q™ Premium Natural Quartz in Latta, South Carolina, and Premium LVT in Cartersville, Georgia.
MSI’s goal is “to contribute to a world where anyone can afford to create a beautiful space to live, work, and play”. In support of this goal, MSI’s plans include opening new branches across the U.S. and Canada, as well as continuing to introduce new and innovative products across all major product lines.
About Essar:
Essar, with an entrepreneurial track record spanning 50 years, specializes in investing and developing assets to create value in core sectors such as energy, infrastructure, metals and mining, technology, and retail. With a presence in eight countries, Essar generates revenues of US$15 billion and provides employment for over 7000 people.
Over the past five years, Essar has strategically rebalanced its portfolio by monetizing some world-class assets. Essar is now positioned to transition its existing assets to a greener regime and invest in businesses driving the transformation of sector landscapes from carbon-centric to a clean energy ecosystem, both nationally and globally. The Group is developing sustainable assets and industry ecosystems, with a particular focus on hydrogen, green mobility, and green steel.
Essar Foundation, the CSR arm of Essar, has a rich 50-year heritage of service across India, focusing on areas such as health, education, livelihood, women empowerment, sports, environment, and infrastructure.
About Qualcomm:
Qualcomm is enabling a world where everyone and everything can be intelligently connected. Our one technology roadmap allows us to efficiently scale the technologies that launched the mobile revolution –including advanced connectivity, high-performance, low-power compute, on-device intelligence, and more – to the next generation of connected smart devices across industries. Innovations from Qualcomm and our family of Snapdragon platforms will help enable cloud-edge convergence, transform industries, accelerate the digital economy, and revolutionize how we experience the world, for the greater good.
Qualcomm Incorporated includes our licensing business, QTL, and the vast majority of our patent portfolio. Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, operates, along with its subsidiaries, substantially all of our engineering, research, and development functions, and substantially all of our products and services businesses, including our QCT semiconductor business.
Qualcomm is a trademark or registered trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated. Qualcomm branded products are products of Qualcomm Technologies, . Inc. and/or its subsidiaries. Qualcomm patented technologies are licensed by Qualcomm Incorporated.