The Hindu Business Line : 5-member UK team seeks business tie-ups in Bengal

UK business was now actively seeking business partnerships in eastern India, as borne out by the visits of successive UK business delegations to this region in recent months. Banking, financial education sectors in its orbit

Kolkata , March 16

UK business, particularly the SME sector, is now fully aware of the enormous potential of joint ventures in India, especially in the banking and financial services, education and also the IT sectors, and is now giving a closer for tie-ups in West Bengal.

Speaking at an interactive session organised by the CII, Eastern region, here today, Mr Graham Snape, International Trade Adviser, Education and Training, who is leading a five-member Trade and investment delegation from the UK to India, said UK business was now actively seeking business partnerships in eastern India, as borne out by the visits of successive UK business delegations to this region in recent months.

Two-way process

Describing Indo-British economic relations as a two-way process which has to be expanded, he said "we are keen to showcase the opportunities available in India for British business".

The UK trade team members represent companies like Aviation Jobsearch (largest website in the world for jobs in the aviation industry such as pilots, cabin crew, engineers and senior management), Aylesbury Automation Ltd (Manufacture of factory automation equipment including tooled and untooled vibratory parts feeders, elevators, semi automatic and automatic machines and ancillary equipment), RKM Enterprises (exporters of environment-friendly speciality cleaning products) and Northey Technologies Ltd (manufacturers of dry and oil-free compressos and vacuum pumps, ventgas recovery systems, biogas mixing compressors and systems as well as vacuum fume extraction.

Earlier, welcoming the trade team members, Mr Ravi Poddar, Chairman, CII, Eastern region, said the industry segments that have been projected to fuel growth in bilateral trade ties between the two countries include IT, telecommuniciations, healthcare, mining equipment, technology, food-processing, agri-business and leisure & tourism.

Citing the ambitious India-UK trade target of Pound 10 billion by 2007, up from the Pound 5 billion in 2003, he said with India's exports growth surpassing imports from the UK, this has been deemed as achievable.

Trade between the two nations has increased by 25 per cent, with India's exports to UK rising by 47 per cent while imports from UK going up by 31 per cent in the first 10 months of the current fiscal.

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