UK-India call for boosting relations in SMEs

New Delhi, Mar 10 (UNI) United Kingdom and India today called for an exponential increase in business contacts between small and medium enterprises(SMEs) and service sectors of their countries in view of the limitless business potential that exists.

During a meeting with Minister of State for Industry Ashwani Kumar here, Duke of York Prince Andrew, a special representative of UK's department of trade&investment, assured him there would be no discrimination against Indian professionals for work visas in Britain, but at the same the Duke expressed the hope that India will take more steps for improving market access.

Mr Ashwani Kumar informed the Prince about Indian government's focus on education and skill upgradation, while Duke of York said there is tremendous scope for an exponential growth in not only trade but also in investments. The Prince outlined comparative strength of UK in services sectors like legal and accountancy, research and development, financial, education, retail, innovation, infrastructure and green technologies.

Reiterating India's commitment to the rule-based multilateral and equitable international trade regime for enlarging global business opportunity, Mr Ashwani Kumar said UK is the third largest investor in India having an investment of 4.13 billion dollars.

UK is also one of the major contributors of technology to India with 860 technical collaborations in the past 17 years, he added.

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