‘The Enhanced Trade Partnership agreed today creates immediate opportunities for British businesses in India across industries including food and drink, life sciences…’
The Governments of UK and India have used a virtual meeting to agree deeper trade cooperation; this includes a new Enhanced Trade Partnership, paving the way for a future UK-India Free Trade Agreement.
Trade between the UK and India is valued at £23 billion each year, supporting more than half a million jobs. The ambition is to double this trade by 2030. India has a population of almost 1.4 billion people, bigger than that of the European Union and US combined.
The latest agreement will see over £533 million of new Indian investment into the UK, which is expected to create more than 6000 jobs in sectors such as health and technology. The agreements include the Serum Institute of India investing £240 million in the UK which will be used to on its vaccine business and a new sales office. It is anticipated that the sales office will generate more than £1 billion in new business, £200 million of which will be invested in the UK.
UK businesses have also secured export deals with India which have a value of more than £446 million, which it is said will create more than 400 UK jobs. The 20 deals announced include Polymateria, a company specialising in tailored biodegradable solutions for plastic packaging. The Polymateria deal is worth £75 million in UK exports over the next five years.
The Government added that the overall figures for new jobs and trade were based on company commitments and estimates from UK-India exports and investments following extensive engagement with the Department for International Trade. The Government also highlighted that the Enhanced Trade Partnership will bring a number of benefits, including removal of the requirement for additional accreditation of UK medical devices when exporting to the Indian market before they are sold, as well as encouraging an increase in skills and knowledge transfer between the countries.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: ‘The Enhanced Trade Partnership agreed today creates immediate opportunities for British businesses in India across industries including food and drink, life sciences and the service sector…A future UK-India trade deal will support hundreds of thousands of jobs and boost the economies of both the UK and India by potentially lowering or removing current tariffs such as those of up to 150% on whiskey and up to 125% on automotives…’
With India continuing to battle covid-19, the UK Government has recently sent £6 million worth of medical supplies to help country deal with the crisis.
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