| 13/01/2006 - UK Trade Minister to visit India and Sri Lanka |
The UK Trade Minister, Ian Pearson will demonstrate the country's growing commitment to a bilateral business relationship when he visits India and Sri Lanka during 16 - 20 January 2006.
Ian Pearson, Minister for Trade will visit India from 16 - 18 January, and Sri Lanka from 19 - 20 January. This will be the UK Government's third trade and investment visit to India in twelve months and an indicator of the UK's continuing commitment to developing its bilateral business relationship with India. It will be the first visit to Sri Lanka by a British Minister since the election of the new Sri Lankan Government in November 2005.
The Minister will be accompanied in India by a 25 strong business delegation led by Indo British Partnership Network (IBPN) Chairman Karan Bilimoria CBE, DL. The delegation will include senior individuals from companies such as Standard Chartered Bank, GlaxoSmithKline, Virgin Atlantic and the London Stock Exchange, all of which are currently active in the Indian market.
Looking forward to his visit Mr Pearson said: "I am delighted to be returning to India after my visit with the Prime Minister in September 2005. UK and India are engaged in one of the most profitable and significant bilateral trade and investment partnerships in the world, with bilateral trade for the first three quarters of 2005 increasing by more than 27% compared to the same period in 2004.
"Throughout this visit I will have opportunities to meet with senior Indian ministers to talk about how we can work together to continue to achieve our shared goals in the international arena.
"I am particularly pleased to be accompanied by this extremely high level IBPN delegation - proof of UK business commitment to developing trade with India.
"The UK is the largest European investor in Sri Lanka and I especially look forward to meeting with UK NGOs and businesses working on post-tsunami reconstruction."
Mr Bilimoria said: "The relationship between Britain and India is a strong and special one, and I am delighted that the IBPN Board is accompanying Minister Ian Pearson on this visit to India.
"The potential to significantly increase trade, business and investment, both ways, between our great nations is enormous.
"Having accompanied Prime Minister Tony Blair and Minister Ian Pearson to India in September, I am delighted that this visit - once again with strong participation from the UK business community - will build on our momentum and help us realise this potential."
Mr Pearson will meet with British Exhibitors at Autoexpo in Delhi on 16 January. In Chennai the Minister will address a seminar on financing growth in emerging economies. In Kolkata on 18 January he will address the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Partnership Summit. On 19 and 20 January he will visit Sri Lanka to witness at first hand the Sri Lankan Governments impressive post-tsunami reconstruction effort and to meet with senior trade ministers.
UK Trade & Investment is the government organization that provides integrated support services for UK companies engaged in overseas trade, and foreign businesses focused on the UK as an inward investment location. For more information visit the web site at http://www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk
The Indo British Partnership Network (IBPN) was launched by UK Trade Minister, Ian Pearson in December 2005 to increase bilateral trade, business and investment between Britain and India. The IBPN is supported by UK Trade & Investment and members of its Board head up JETCO (Joint Economic and Trade Commission) working groups including Accountancy, Legal and the Creative Industries. The IBPN is an accessible gateway reaching out to businesses of all sizes and particularly encouraging and facilitating SMEs to do business with India. Membership is free via its website http://www.ibpn.co.uk.
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