UK Investment Minister Lord Jo Johnson began a visit to India on Wednesday (26 April), with the aim of strengthening the investment partnership between the two countries. The ninth round of negotiations for the UK-India free trade agreement (FTA) is also taking place this week.
Lord Johnson is visiting Pune in order to meet potential investors from India, including Infosys and Zensar, who will be looking to make investments into the UK. He has described the UK as the “undisputed number one investment destination in Europe”. Johnson previously visited Mumbai and New Delhi in October 2020, when he met with Indian Investors and Businesses such as Apollo Hospitals, Prodapt, Wockhardt.
The UK Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has declared India a “priority market” for the UK. This initiative is expected to build momentum behind the ongoing FTA negotiations between the two countries. The visit will also help promote the Global Investment Summit 2023, which will bring together around 200 CEOs of multinational companies, and investment corporations in the UK.
According to the British government, the inaugural summit held in 2021 secured nearly £10 billion of new foreign investments on the day. The 2023 summit will highlight the UK’s successes in the fields of life sciences, deep technology, nuclear fusion, small modular reactors and manufacturing. Additionally, the DBT has mentioned that there are over £28 billion investments from both countries, which support over half a million jobs. Trade between the UK and India stands at £34 billion in the four quarters to the end of Q3 2022.
Infosys is one of the most admired Indian companies, with its headquarters in Bengaluru and offices worldwide. The company helps global businesses to re-imagine their businesses by providing digital transformation and technology services. They have been innovating new technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and automation, to drive transformational change for their clients.
Lord Jo Johnson is the younger brother of the former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. He is a member of the House of Lords and as Minister for Investment, he is responsible for setting and delivering British Government strategy across the Global Britain in a Competitive age. The mission of his visit to India is to build momentum for the ongoing UK-India FTA negotiations and strengthening investment partnership across the technology, life sciences and other sectors.
It is evident from the UK Government’s statics that the partnership and trade between the UK and India is doing steadily well. Lord Jo Johnson’s visit is likely to strengthen this relationship further, and promotes investment opportunities in UK businesses.
