Bilateral Trade between India and UK to increase to US $ 20 billion in next 5 years-- H.E. Sir Richard Stagg, British High Commissioner at PHD Chamber.

The bilateral trade between India and UK should increase in next 5 years to US $ 20 billion from US$13 billion at present.” In the next 5 years there can be increase in trade by another 50% from 13 billion US $ without great difficulty, at present most of the trade is happening in traditional items and its not fulfilling its full potential.” Said Sir Richard Stagg, British High Commissioner, at an interactive session organised by PHD Chamber. The existing bilateral trade is mainly in traditional items only, with serious intervention, promotion in trade and investments can happen mainly in mid cap companies, he added.  

Talking about Indo-UK cooperation he said that there were numerous opportunities of Joint Ventures with small and medium Indian enterprises. The important areas of cooperation were in the fields of education, energy and green agenda, technology, defense and internal security and manufacturing. Since India was a people rich economy, there was need for India to create job markets. Also UK would be happy to contribute towards the agenda for inclusive growth. 

There is need for businesses in both countries to relook at each other. This is particularly true for SMEs, . “There is a strong desire of UK companies to do business in tier II and tier III cities as a lot more interesting , challenging and dynamic activity is happening in these cities .” added the British High Commissioner.  

In her welcome remarks, Mrs. Sushma Berlia, Past President, PHD Chamber said that in the last one year all the countries had been struggling with the adverse effects of the global crisis and the focus of the business community, the world over, had been towards survival. Now with the signs of some recovery in many of the European economies, as also in India, there was need for businesses in both countries to relook at each other, particularly in SMEs sector. Emphasis was also laid on the opportunities for cooperation in financial and legal services, knowledge based economy, education, biotechnology, agro and food processing, healthcare, tourism, environment, science and innovation, designing, etc.

India with its liberalised and open environment has become very attractive for foreign investment. Indian industry is also increasingly looking outwards for growth and investments and is now more confident of expanding its horizons and stepping into the international arena. UK is one of the most important destinations of Indian investment abroad. The presence of a large number of Indian companies in the United Kingdom reflects the maturing of economic relations between the two countries.

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