Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

PM's remarks to the UK Business Delegation

I would like to extend a very warm welcome to all of you here today. I am delighted that Prime Minister Cameron has brought with him a truly distinguished business delegation, which represents the best of British industry, including companies which are household names in India.

Economic and commercial ties are a major driver of any strategic partnership between nations. I hope your visit will be a forerunner of a greatly strengthened business relationship between India and Britain.

The United Kingdom is one of our important trading partners and the fourth largest investor in India. I am happy to say that Indian investors have also taken a keen interest in investing in the UK. More than 600 Indian companies are based in the United Kingdom, and around 70 are listed on the London Stock Exchange. Indian investors also see the United Kingdom as the gateway to the European Union and beyond. Our bilateral trade has increased from 6 billion US dollars in 2003-04 to over 12 billion dollars last year.

While these figures are encouraging, they also indicate that the levels of both trade and investment are lower than they could be. Prime Minister Cameron and I have decided that we should aim at the doubling of our bilateral trade turnover in the next five years.

We have also decided to establish an India-UK CEOs Forum. We hope that the Forum will look at the practical aspects of barriers to trade and investment, and explore innovative ways to leverage partnership and collaboration.

I hope your visit will give you a direct feel of economic developments and prospects in India. India offers a large market, a young and creative population and a stable investment climate. It also offers the prospect of a steadily expanding market. Despite the global economic downturn, we are poised to return to a growth trajectory of 8 to 9% per annum. Our economic growth agenda is complemented by a firm commitment to inclusive social policies that will make our growth sustainable and broad based.

Our infrastructure has lagged behind the acceleration in growth and presents a major challenge. We need much more investment in Infrastructure sectors such as power, roads, railways, ports and aviation. We have outlined an ambitious programme of investment in these areas to meet the deficit. This is based on a combination of public investment and public private partnership.

The public private partnership route should offer attractive opportunities for British investors and financiers. Of course, the rest of the Indian economy is also open for investment by British Investors and we welcome you in a wide range of activities. Collaboration in the areas of industrial innovation, R&D, vocational training, bio-technology, green-technology, design and quality are other major areas of mutual interest.

The Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor and the Chennai-Bangalore industrial clusters offer new avenues for foreign investors wishing to participate in the India story.

Over the years, we have progressively relaxed our guidelines for foreign direct investment to encourage and facilitate foreign direct investment. I can assure you that we will do all that is necessary to make doing business in India easy and hassle free. We are determined to create a stable, transparent and predictable investment environment in India.

The global economy is at a stage of profound transformation. India is a part of the shifting global economic landscape, and its economic weight is set to increase in the years ahead. I invite you to join us in our socio-economic transformation as investors, financiers and traders.

Our Government, in partnership with the Government of the United Kingdom, will continue to encourage close business ties between our two countries.

I thank you.