India-UK to Enhance Bilateral Investments

The 7th meeting of the Indo-UK Joint Economic & Trade Committee (JETCO) took place on 19 January 2011. The Indian delegation was led by the Anand Sharma, Minister for Commerce and Industry and the UK delegation was led by Dr. Vincent Cable, Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills, UK.

The meeting saw both industry and Government come together and have healthy discussions in the four parallel sessions of the Joint Working Groups on the themes of Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering, Education and Skills Development , Investment and Innovation and Logistics. The outcomes of these deliberations were presented by the leaders of the different groups in the plenary session. Outcomes of the discussions in the British India Infrastructure Group (BIIG), which is a separate Working Group led by the Ministry of Finance were also taken onboard during the Plenary Session.

As regards Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering, both sides agreed to enhance bilateral investment flows in the identified sectors, promoting institutional collaborations between industry and universities for enhancement of competencies through capacity building and technology transfer.

In respect of Logistics both sides identified capacity building in supply chain and logistics as an important area of collaboration and agreed on the adoption of one cluster for the implementation of the safety quality parameters with regard to export.

In Education and Skills Development both sides agreed to encourage public private partnerships and the building of business arrangements between UK and Indian skills providers.

On Innovation and Investment both sides agreed to facilitate implementation of innovation (products/ processes/ services) and create innovative business models based on the needs of both countries, innovation collaborations in the areas of healthcare, security, mobile communications etc were identified to assist Indian and UK companies leverage innovation to scale up and deliver quality services/solutions in the domestic markets.

Earlier, in a bilateral meeting between Mr. Sharma Minister and Dr Vincent Cable, both sides discussed issues of mutual cooperation, market access issues for both goods and services. Both the Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to increasing FDI flows and ensuring a stable environment for investors. Both sides also agreed on the need for further improvement in the regulatory environment impacting trade and investment flows. Taking note of the progress made in the India – EU negotiations for a Broadbased Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) both sides looked forward to an early, successful and mutually beneficial conclusion to the negotiations.

Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to a multilateral trade agreement and expressed hope that the Doha Development Round come to an early and ambitious conclusion.

As part of the JETCO agreement, both sides agreed to hold a meeting of senior officials once in six months to facilitate implementation of the decisions of the JETCO and to review its progress. It was also agreed that the next meeting of the JETCO would take place after one year in the UK.

[Source: PIB Press Releases dated 19 Jan '11]