Efforts to strengthen trade ties with United Kingdom

New Delhi, June 16 : The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) President K V Kamath will head a 13 member delegation to the United Kingdom for augmenting trade ties with India on June 19.

The delegation will explore opportunities for catalysing bilateral economic relationship, the Indian industry's perspective on the changing global economic scenario and opportunities for the both the countries to address these growing concerns.

The objective of the mission is to share Indian growth story, discuss common concerns on economic security, and explore opportunities for innovation in manufacturing, education and healthcare services.

The Mission to the UK is aimed at taking forward the strategic partnership. India's trade surplus with UK has increased to 785 million pounds since 2004-05. Impact of globalisation on the Indian economy has opened new avenues for trade with other countries and the mission will provide a new perspective to the world to enhance trade ties with India.

With a continuing focus on Climate Change, the members of the delegation will discuss opportunities in the education sector, address the 11th Chatham House conference on climate change 2008 and discuss common threats to economic security.

Earlier, UK launched 'Next Generation India' initiative at Edinburgh in Scotland on February 19 this year to boost trade ties between the two nations.

In India-UK annual Summit held in Delhi on January 21 this year, it came to light that the UK was the third largest cumulative investor in India. India emerged as one of the largest investors in the UK, including several major acquisitions, reflecting the maturing nature of the bilateral economic partnership.

The UK is among India's important global trading partners.

ANI