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ShareLondon: Describing the UK as one of India's most important trade and investment partners, president Pratibha Patil today sought "freer movement" of professionals and business travellers between the two countries in a bid to give a boost to their economic ties.
"I would like to mention that for any relationship to achieve its full potential, the enhancement in business links has to be correspondingly matched by freer movement of peoples, professionals and business travellers," she said, addressing a UK-India Business Council function.
The president, who is on a four-day state visit to United Kingdom, said India offers attractive opportunities for investment with "capital cost advantage" being a major incentive for companies thinking of a long term presence in the country.
The president said trade and investment does, indeed, form an important component of the India-UK strategic partnership.
"There has been a significant rise in trade and investment flows between the UK and India in the last decade. While the UK is one of India's most important trade and investment partners, India has become one of the largest investors in the UK," she said.
India is presently one of the fastest-growing source of investments in Britain, she said.India has achieved levels ofEuropean productivity at 20% of cost and, continues to remain competitive in labour costs making it an attractive investment destination as its economy has performed well in 2009 despite global downturn, she said.
Despite global economic crisis, sectors like IT and Information Technology enabled Services (ITeS) have grown with remarkable pace, she said.
"Aggregate revenue from the overall Information Technology enabled Services grew by over 33% to reach $64 billion in fiscal year 2007-08 as compared to $48.1 billion in 2006-07," Patil said.
The president said strong domestic demand and an upwardly mobile middle class population offer tremendous opportunities to the global business community.
"Our infrastructure financing needs are estimated to be $550 billion in the next five years. There is huge potential for cooperation in this area mainly through public private partnerships," Patil said.
The president said, "This has made us a significant player in a knowledge based economy. Our capabilities in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and health sectors are well-known. Similarly, sectors like environment protection and conservation could also be used by our partners and friends to the benefit of our people." The function was attended by British Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Lord Mandelson, chairperson of the Council Patricia Hewitt, FICCI president Harsh Pati Singhania and members of business delegations from both countries.
Earlier, the president met a FICCI-CII Indian business delegation at Hotel Bentley. The President encouraged them to continue to work for the promotion of bilateral trade and investment relations, an external affairs ministry spokesperson said.
Patil also visited the Natural History Museum acquainting herself with efforts underway for promoting a better understanding of biodiversity of the world and research being undertaken for prevention of various diseases, a ministry official briefed the reporters.
She visited the Climate Change Wall and butterfly collection at Cocoon. The President also viewed documentary 'Wildscapes'.
