June 22, 2007 - 0 comments
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New Delhi : Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) President Sunil Bharti Mittal will lead a 11-member delegation to the United Kingdom, from June 24 to 26, to strengthen Indo-UK trade and investment linkages and explore opportunities for catalyzing growth.
Strong ties with Britain are a priority for India given historical political and cultural ties, substantial economic linkages and the large community of Indian origin in the UK. With India celebrating 60 years of Independence, this year is significant for the Indo-UK relationship.
UK is an important interlocutor in the bilateral, EU, G-8 and global contexts. Indo-UK trade is approximately worth eight billion dollars. As India Inc.'s appetite for overseas acquisitions has grown, India has emerged as the second largest investor in Britain in the past twelve months, moving up from being the third largest in 2005-06, after the US and Japan.
Although the US still continues to be the largest investor, India is moving ahead with more than 500-plus companies located in the UK and several India-UK business success stories. The recent acquisition of Corus, the erstwhile British Steel, by the Tatas, represented the largest overseas acquisition by an Indian company.
"UK and India are critical for each other. One of the ways that CII reflects this is by taking the annual CII CEOs Mission to the UK, led traditionally by the CII President. This year's Mission too is led by the CII President, Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal, and will call on prominent thought leaders, opinion makers, parliamentarians and government officials in the UK", said Supriya Banerji, Head - International, CII.
During the two-day visit, the CEOs delegation will meet, among others David Miliband MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Patricia Hewitt MP, Secretary of State for Health; HRH The Duke of York, UK Special Representative for International Trade and Investment, Richard Lambert, Director General, Confederation of British Industry (CBI); Sir Digby Jones, Special Advisor to The Duke of York; Baron Eric de Rothschild, Lord Karan Bilimoria, UK Chairman, Indo-British Partnership (IBP) and Andrew Cahn, Chief Executive, UK Trade & Investment (UKTI).
The delegation is also scheduled to interact and have meetings with captains of British industry, representing some of the leading companies on the FTSE 100.
