The Hindu Business Line : `£10 b Indo-UK trade target attainable'

THE India-UK bilateral trade target of £10 billion by 2007 is "attainable", according to the British High Commissioner to India, Sir Rob Young. The target had been set last year jointly by the Confederation of British Industry and the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Addressing a press conference on his farewell visit here on Friday, Sir Rob said the industry segments that would fuel the projected growth in Indo-British bilateral trade were information technology, telecommunications, healthcare, mining equipment, biotechnology, food processing, agri-business and leisure & tourism. In the first six months of 2003, Indo-British bilateral trade has registered an increase of 16.5 per cent over the corresponding period of 2002.

Over the next few years, however, the share of the services sector would increase from its existing levels. Of the £5-billion worth of bilateral trade last year, services accounted for £1.2 billion while trade in goods accounted for the rest.

Sir Rob said several British companies would choose to outsource their call centre activity and back office processing work to India. Asked how Britain would tackle the inevitable problem of loss of jobs in the UK on account of outsourcing work to India, he said the issue did not veer round loss of jobs in the UK as much as it pertained to ensuring the competitiveness of British industry. According to him, it would be imperative for British firms to remain competitive during difficult times as at present. "If this means British firms need to set up offices in India, they should do so. This will ensure their competitiveness and help them generate profits. And, it is only then that they can invest more and help create more jobs. Actually, it is a virtuous circle", he said.

Sir Rob termed the Indian Government's decision to purchase 66 Hawk advanced jet trainer aircraft from British Aerospace in a Rs 8,000-crore deal as a "turning point" in bilateral co-operation in the defence sector. About 24 of these aircraft would be made in the UK while the rest are proposed to be manufactured locally at Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. According to him, the aircraft deal would encourage British firms to join hands with Indian defence equipment makers to ensure competitiveness and a win-win situation for all parties concerned.

The Indo-British trade in goods and services has registered an increase of 67 per cent since the Indo-British partnership was formed in 1993. The UK is India's second-largest trading partner after the US and accounted for five per cent of India's total foreign trade in goods in 2001-02. It has the third-largest share of 9.8 per cent of new investments approved since 1991 and the fourth-largest share of 5.2 per cent of new investments implemented since 1991. Between 1993 — when the Indo-British partnership was formed - and March 2003, a total of 1,905 Indo-British joint ventures have been approved.

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