Building stronger business ties
with India

7 February 2008

Our future success lies in building strong ties with India
- by Digby, Lord Jones of Birmingham
Minister of State for Trade and Investment

India was an obvious choice for my first overseas visit. Our two nations have so much in common that we can use as a platform for a winning business partnership. We have the same spirit of entrepreneurship, the same democratic values and great ethnic diversity and tolerance.

India is growing at around 10% a year and this is fuelling huge opportunities. I urge UK companies to look at this market because our future success lies in building strong links with this incredibly smart and ambitious nation.

Barriers include financial and legal services, but both governments are working closely to find a way forward. There is a £170 billion infrastructure market available over the next five years. Energy is another area where there are huge opportunities. India has untapped reserves of oil and gas and the UK has expertise of drilling in harsh conditions.

Each time I visit India I am amazed at how much the country has changed. You can feel the growing confidence and optimism, particularly amongst the youth. We need to find new ways of building links between the youth of our two nations.

We must all play our part to form strong cultural, sporting and business ties with a nation that has so much to offer the world. Business makes the difference and everyone wins in the long run.

This article first appeared in Overseas Trade

More information about Doing Business in India: download our cultural guide to India free of charge.