The Hindu Business Line : British envoy sees scope for IT, tourism ties with Kerala

KERALA and the UK can work together in a number of areas including information technology (IT), education and tourism, said Sir Michael Arthur, the British High Commissioner to India.

In tourism, for instance, approximately 400,000 people from the UK visit India every year and a good number of them visit Kerala, he pointed out. As the tourism infrastructure in Kerala improves more tourists from the UK will visit the State, he added.

Kerala, as a tourist destination, already enjoys considerable brand recall in the UK, he declared. And with the number of direct flights from the UK to India likely to increase, tourism in Kerala will also benefit, he added.

Similarly, many of the 15,000 Indian students who have gone to study in the UK this year are from Kerala, Sir Michael said.

In fact, a delegation made up of representatives of several Universities in the UK is scheduled to visit the State in December this year, he said. This delegation will look at establishing links between educational institutions in Kerala and those in the UK, he added.

In 2003 alone, UK-based companies working in areas such as software development and development of educational products have invested approximately Rs 2.4 crore in setting up operations in Kerala, he pointed out.

Sir Michael said he believed that such business links between UK and Kerala will increase. For instance, the Malabar Chamber of Commerce and UK's East Midland Ethnic Food Forum recently signed a memorandum of understanding to boost bilateral trade and investment in the food-processing sector, he explained.

The British Council network in India is the largest in the world, he said. In fact, the British Council in India has developed several unique educational products, Sir Michael added.

When asked to comment on the opposition to companies in the UK outsourcing operations to India, Sir Michael said that if a company in the UK believes it is in its best interests to outsource operations to India, the British Government believes that such activity is in the best interests of the British economy. However, he added that India needs to provide greater access to UK companies in domains such as insurance and banking.

Sir Michael, who was on his first official visit to the State, held discussions with the Governor of Kerala, the Chief Minister and other officials. He also met with the Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Association of British Scholars in Kochi.

Our Kochi Bureau adds: The Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry has accorded a reception to the visiting British High Commissioner, Sir Michael Arthur.

The Chamber President, Mr A.K. Nair, briefly outlined the long-standing ties between India and Britain and the economic initiatives being undertaken jointly under the Indo-British Partnership initiative.

The British High Commissioner spoke briefly on the purpose of his visit to Kochi, describing it as a journey in learning. He felt that there was much scope for co-operation between the UK and Kerala in the fields of tourism, education and the seafood sector.

He hoped that he would succeed in increasing flights in and out of India and Britain as it would bring more visitors and more business for both the countries. Britain and India do business in areas that never existed in the past and British investments in India far exceeded that of any other western country, he added.

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