NEW DELHI: Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Kamal Nath has stated that the infrastructure development is a vital area for India’s economic growth.
During his interaction with Douglas Alexander, Secretary of State for Department of International Development, UK, here last evening, Nath emphasised that there is an excellent opportunity for UK expertise as well as investments In India.
“We need to generate interests in the large number of PPP projects being explored in India”, he added. Both sides also discussed about the present global financial crisis and the impact on trade.
The meeting was also attended by G.K. Pillai, Commerce Secretary apart from senior officials from both the countries.
Both sides discussed the possibilities for early conclusion of the Doha Round Negotiations of the WTO. Shri Kamal Nath explained that India continues to believe strongly in a rule-based, transparent and fair multilateral trade regime. “One of the factors which will have an important bearing on the conclusion of the Round is whether the developed countries would be willing to show the necessary flexibility for finalizing a multilateral deal. However, India has been engaging constructively and actively with other fellow member countries of the WTO in the expectation that this would be forthcoming. A conclusion would of course depend on whether the WTO members are faithful to the mandate and the final outcome reflects a clear balance between market opening and the development needs of the majority of the membership”, he added.
Both sides agreed that there is a huge potential for bilateral trade and investment in view of shared interests and a long history of relations. It was felt that the potential area for growth in trade and investment are agri-business, healthcare, infrastructure, high-technology, legal services, accountancy services and financial services. Shri Kamal Nath informed the visiting Secretary of State that Indian healthcare industry is keen for tie-ups with the UK health insurance industry for offering healthcare facilities in India.
The cumulative foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows from the UK during 1991-2008 was to the tune of US $ 5.03 billion. The top sectors that attracted FDI from the UK were: telecommunications, fuels (power & oil refining), chemicals (other than fetillisers and services sector (financial & non-financial). The top investment areas by Indians in the UK are: software development services, pharmaceuticals, textiles and handicrafts.
The total bilateral trade between India and the UK during the year 2007-08 was US $ 12 billion (exports – $ 7 billion and imports – $ 5 billion). During 2006-07, the bilateral trade was US $ 9.8 billion (exports – $ 5.6 billion and imports – $ 4.2 billion). The main exports to UK were: readymade garments, petroleum, machinery & instruments, gems & jewellery, footwear etc. The main imports from the UK were: precious & semi-precious stones, electronic goods, silver, transport equipments, metalifers ores and metal scrap etc.
The present Indo-UK Joint Working Groups is in the sectors of hi-tech, IPR (intellectual property rights), accountancy, legal services, infrastructure, healthcare, financial services and company affairs. The 5th Meeting of the Indo-UK JETCO (Joint Economic and Trade Committee) is scheduled to be held in New Delhi on a date to be decided mutually.
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