4 February 2010

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson and Indian Commerce Minister Anand Sharma are holding trade talks today in London that will look at deepening ties between the UK and one of the world’s fastest growing economies. The Joint Economic Trade Committee (JETCO) talks come amidst a period of intense activity between the UK and Indian Governments. Indian Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath was in London this week, shortly after a visit by Human Resources Minister Kapil Sibal in January. Lord Mandelson visited India in December, following a visit by Trade, Investment and Small Business Minister Lord Davies.

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said: “India is not only a global economic power, it is also one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. I am delighted to welcome Minister Sharma here, and anticipate fruitful talks today. “India’s confidence, energy and innovation, allied to the UK’s world-class knowledge economy, can transform life for millions in both our countries and around the world. We can work together in the high technology sectors that will facilitate low carbon growth and bring long-term prosperity.”

UK-India trade talks

Today’s trade talks will be wide-ranging:

• With India one of the largest consumer markets in the world, retail will be a key issue. The sector accounts for over 10% of India’s GDP. The UK has experience in managing supply chains for agri-business that could help India to tackle the issue of food spoiling en route to market. Currently almost 35-40% of agricultural produce in India is lost during transit.

• Infrastructure is an important area of opportunity. India has 80,000 kilometres of road that need either expanding or building, and a UK-India roads group was set up this week. There are ambitious plans to turn Nagpur, a city at the geographical heart of India, into a road, rail and air hub.

• In the food and drink sector, India is the world’s largest market for whisky, with 90 million cases sold every year.

• Indian banks such as ICICI and State Bank of India are expanding in the UK, and UK banks are keen to expand further into India, where they are already offering microfinance loans.

• With 15% of India’s population under the age of 15, education has been pinpointed as a growth area. The Indian Government plans to triple the public budget for science and technology by 2012 to reach 2% of GDP.

• With India’s middle class currently numbering 300 million people, opportunities to increase the provision of business services will be on the agenda.

• The UK and India share a common interest in tackling the global backlog of more than four million patent applications. UK research shows that every year of delay costs major economies more than £5 billion. Intellectual property will hence be a subject for discussion.

• The UK’s bilateral trade with India is worth £12.6bn. The UK is the biggest European investor in India and India last year overtook Japan to become the biggest Asian investor in the UK by number of projects. Over 600 Indian firms are represented in the UK, of which about two thirds are in information technology or software. Last year alone, almost 4,000 new jobs were created in the UK by Indian investment.

For information visit www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk or telephone +44 (0)20 7215 8000.