1) Indian financial services market access for UK strengthened and 2) New boost for UK and India’s startup sectors

The UK and Indian governments have announced plans to strengthen UK-Indian trade relations with an emphasis on financial services, trade and technology at the India Day summit held in London.

The two governments have today (16 July) held a business and investment summit at Mansion House in the City of London, where Prime Minister Theresa May, Liam Fox, the Secretary of State for International Trade, and Piyush Goyal, the Indian Commerce Minister spoke to delegates from Indian and UK businesses as well as government ministers on plans to further strengthen the UK-India relationship and highlighted the opportunities for future trade and investment between the two nations.

The event, co-hosted by the City of London, focused on how UK and Indian financial markets can support India’s transition to a more services-led economy by improving access to its import markets and internationalising its currency.

The daylong event brought together senior ministers and business representatives from both countries including the Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, Sir David Ramsden, Crispin Simon, Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for South Asia and Lord Ashton, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

The Secretary of State for International Trade, Dr Liam Fox MP, said:

The UK and India already have a strong bond, built on historic links and present-day trade, which is worth £20 billion. This is a solid base to build on as we venture into the future as partners working to strengthen our economic ties and create growth for prosperity in both nations.

The City of London is playing a crucial role in the internationalisation of the rupee, which will help ensure the Indian economy reaches its full potential.

This morning, Minister Goyal and I opened the London Stock Exchange, which is now the world’s largest rupee-denominated Masala bond centre. selling more than half of all the rupee-denominated bonds issued to overseas buyers globally.

This demonstrates the scale of what the UK can do for India’s economic transformation, and the potential of what we can achieve together in the future.

High-profile businesses executives were present, amongst others, from the London Stock Exchange, Standard Chartered, WorldPay, Prudential, Hero Enterprise, Punjab National Bank, HDFC Life, National Investment and Infrastructure Fund and Lloyds of London and ran panel sessions throughout the day focused on:

• The Future of Insurance,
• Opportunities in green infrastructure financing,
• Innovation in Financial Services,
• Investing in Stressed Assets,
• Investing in innovation,
• Opportunities in India’s Growing Economy

The UK is committed to growing the bilateral trading relationship between the two countries, India is already the UK’s 11th largest export market outside of the EU and accounts for £7.5 billion of existing investment in the UK. Bilateral trade is valued at more than £20.5 billion per year, and grew at 14% last year, demonstrating the potential of the Indian economy to grow and the opportunities for both countries ahead.

The UK is firmly established in financial trading markets and accounts for 37% of global foreign exchange trading. It is also a global centre for the issuance and trading of bonds, with around 39% of global secondary market turnover in 2017.

Britain’s position as a world-leading finance hub makes it perfectly placed to support India’s aspirations to develop its financial infrastructure and tap into global sources of capital.

The two nations are working together for to access opportunities in many sectors, not only the finance and global trading on offer from the City of London. Yesterday (15 July) also marked the 13th Joint Economic and Trade Committee between the UK and India. Ahead of the committee, the UK government secured renewed market access across three key Indian growth sectors (poultry, oats and pig products) and enabled continued market access in a 4th (sheep). From 2016-2018 Indian imports of these products accounted for £9.8 million per year.

Thanks to the close collaboration between both governments, the UK will be able to more easily access these import markets - showing yet more progress outside of formal free trade agreements.

The UK also announced that it is widening the scope of the India-UK Joint Working Group to include new sectors, including services and chemicals

New initiative launched in India to give startups the skills they need to grow their business and drive UK-India tech collaboration.

This is part of the UK-India Tech Partnership announced by Prime Ministers Theresa May and Narendra Modi in April 2018.

Government is committed to strengthening the UK-India partnership and exchanging our expertise in tech.

Some of India’s most innovative and cutting-edge ‘tech for good’ startups will have the chance to take part in a new programme to improve their business skills, build links with the UK’s thriving digital sector and pave the way for future economic partnerships.

The Go Global programme is part of the ambitious UK-India Tech Partnership announced by UK Prime Minister Theresa May and India Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April 2018. It is a successful innovation scheme supporting startups to work with UK expertise to take their firms to the next level.

India is home to a thriving digital sector worth approximately $200 billion and is a growing hub for technologies such as artificial intelligence, cyber security, data analytics and a leading manufacturer of internet-connected devices and services. The programme will focus on India tech firms in the tech for good sector.

Digital Secretary Jeremy Wright said:

India is home to a rapidly growing tech sector and with thriving fintech, e-commerce and telecommunications industries.

Through the newly expanded Go Global programme we are giving Indian tech entrepreneurs focused on the development of tech for good the opportunity to hone their skills so they can compete on the global stage.

This will also help to build connections for UK startups in new markets, highlight Britain as the place to develop new technology and pave the way for future economic partnerships.

The successful Indian startups will be expected to act as Go Global champions and share the skills they have learned with other firms across India. This will help spread digital skills, digital capability and increase entrepreneurial spirit, creating jobs and prosperity.

The launch follows the first successful Go Global Africa programme which saw eighteen ambitious tech startups from Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa visit London. They exchanged ideas, learned how to scale and grow their business, and showcased their innovations across fintech, healthtech, agritech and waste to investors and leading figures from the UK’s tech sector.

Not only will the programme help startups in India but it will also play a vital part in making links for UK startups in emerging hotspots such as Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Bengaluru.

Go Global was a flagship programme of the UK Israel Tech Hub and over the last four years it has helped develop new UK-Israel collaborations in the digital economy. According to the most recent report on its impact, the UK Israel Tech Hub has led 175 tech partnerships in deals worth £85 million.

Notes to editors:

There are more than half a billion internet subscribers across India and it is one of the largest and fastest growing markets for digital consumers. India’s ‘core’ digital sectors - digital communication service and electronics manufacturing - accounted for $170bn or 7 per cent of GSP in 2017-18. Strengthening the UK’s partnership with India is a key element of the Government’s commitment to reinvesting in the UK’s relationships across the world, expanding and deepening the nation’s overseas network, working with others to face challenges and advancing common interests. Applications for Go Global India will open in Summer 2019.