International Trade Secretary visits Delhi and Mumbai on maiden visit to India
The International Trade Secretary, Liam Fox, has visited the cities of New Delhi and Mumbai as he embarked on his first visit to India since taking up his role.
Visiting from 28 to 30 August 2016, the Minister held meetings with the Indian Minister for Finance, Arun Jaitley, and the Minister for Commerce, Nirmala Sitharaman.
India is the third largest investor in the UK and the UK is the largest G20 investor into India, contributing around 8% of India’s foreign direct investment (FDI).
Throughout his visit, the Minister discussed the need to forge stronger trade and investment ties and spoke with his counterparts about furthering economic cooperation between the UK and India.
Speaking during his visit, the International Trade Secretary said:
I wanted to come here early in my time as Secretary of State for International Trade to show how important the new government views our trade partnership with India. This partnership lies at the very heart of the strategic relationship between our two nations, a relationship that has never been more important than it is today.
Our current trading relationship is strong but more importantly, there is so much future potential. I want the UK and India to draw on our unique bonds and shared experience. It’s fundamental that we do all we can to strengthen these ties and create a future built on increased trading and economic prosperity for all our citizens.
The International Trade Secretary also met with business leaders and local businesses in both New Delhi and Mumbai. He also met with industry bodies including the Confederation of Indian Industries ahead of the Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) which will take place in India later this year and which the Secretary of State will attend.
While in India, the Minister met with Indian financial technology entrepreneurs and attended the soft launch of the India-UK TECH Summit. The UK is the country partner for the TECH Summit which showcases British expertise in innovation, technology and skills to Indian businesses.