Andrew Cahn

CHENNAI: The Indo-British Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) will meet in New Delhi next month to iron out differences and look at new opportunities for British trade and industry in India. The Ministerial level meeting will be co-chaired by Trade Minister Kamal Nath and British Secretary of State for Trade and Industry Alistair Darling.

In a preparatory visit for that interaction, Andrew Cahn, Chief Executive, U.K. Trade and Investment (UKTI), is now touring key States and meeting up with both officials and captains of industry. After Delhi and Maharashtra, Mr. Cahn, who was here on Thursday, will be in Bangalore on Friday.

"We are also planning a visit by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, to India very soon and that will provide a significant push to bilateral trade and investments. India is already the third largest investor in Britain and indications are that it will overtake Japan to emerge as the second largest investor this year," Mr. Cahn said in an interview here.

He expected the JETCO meeting to address the obstacles to further development of trade and industry between the two countries. "The way I see it is that the government has only an enabling role to play. It is for the private sector to do the business. We have identified the services sector holding the potential for future growth, but this is also an area where laws and regulations in India are hindering progress and foreign investment," he reasoned.

The UKTI chief said financial and ancillary services, banking, insurance, legal, and accountancy were some of the areas British companies were keen on investing and collaborating with India. There was nothing for India or its professionals to fear in these sectors because the country had world-class skills and only needed to partner with world-class experts in the field to provide world-class services. "We are waiting for you to deregulate in these key areas."

Similarly, the retail sector was another point of contention. Mr. Cahn wanted the laws regulating it to be liberalised to open the doors to leading retails chains to set up shop. "If Tesco comes here, they are not going to look at just selling British goods. They will put in place the required logistics and create a sound supply chain. It will be the local producers and farmers who will benefit. You need to understand that."

He said London was not only the financial capital, but also the global centre for creative industry such as designs. The more sophisticated the Indian economy became, the more important it is for companies and professionals here to look outwards and globalise their operations.

Mr. Cahn opened a British Trade office in Pune earlier this week and will catch up with the developments in the Information Technology sector in Bangalore. "Each time I visit India, it is a different place. I get a new perspective and see new possibilities. I am struck by the sheer vitality of the economy and the enterprise here. Only the remaining bottlenecks have to be removed and the imbalances between urban and agricultural developments corrected," he said.

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