Dickie’s Speech at the UKIBC & LCIO Reception-London
By Trisha Nagpal
Many thanks to Nav MP and LCIO, our hosts, and Jonathan Brenton from Pernod Ricard, our generous co-sponsor, for supporting an excellent event at the House of Commons, London, this week during which UKIBC members got the chance to meet UK parliamentarians.
We were honoured to be joined by His Excellency Vikram… the Indian High Commissioner, and Gareth Thomas MP, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Business and Trade.
I talked about the incredible growth in the Indian economy over the last 2 decades – in 2004 India’s economy was one third that of the UK’s: now it’s at least 20% larger in real terms. By my rough calculations, in 20 years’ time India should be growing by about a trillion dollars every year.
My message to our members and the parliamentarians was that India is the home of growth. And a source of growth for the UK.
A swiftly concluded, win-win FTA will help harness this opportunity. Throughout the FTA process UKIBC has worked closely with both governments, initially convening 20 roundtables with 200 companies from every corner of the UK, to submit their views into the process. We look forward to the resumption of talks and to working with both teams as the negations progress.
I also highlighted the need to upgrade the ‘architecture’ between the UK and India, specifically re-staring the UK-India CEO Forum and Joint Economic Trade Committee, which provided a brilliant platform for strategic as well as practical conversations between Indian and UK business (and business to government).
Business wants this back because there’s so much more we can do together with the right architecture in place. I constantly stress that the UK needs to see India a strategic partner – part of the UK’s supply chain, tech chain, R&D chain, talent chain, not just a market for UK goods and services.
These forums will help socialize, strategize and deliver that and the promise of the FTA. There is a bright, shared economic future ready and waiting to be built.
