IOD Special Talk - Bridging Nations, Building Futures

Igniting Economic Growth and Innovation through the Power of the UK-India Relations
It's such a privilege to be here among so many distinguished guests today.
The leading lights of Anglo-India relations the enduring partnership between the UK and India shine far beyond the familiar associations of cricket and tea. There's so much more to explore and celebrate in this dynamic relationship.
I'm very pleased to say I actually spent one year of my childhood in India, where I was warmly cared for in Calcutta. Now, as the City Minister, I feel it's time for another visit. Please do extend an invitation-I'll be very happy to come along.
For many of us, India feels like a second home. Once shaped by the complexities of colonialism, our relationship has evolved into a dynamic and vibrant partnership between two equal, independent nations. Today, our economies and cultural legacies are deeply intertwined.
Modern Britain would not be what it is today without the Indian diaspora. A lot of them live in my constituency of Hampstead and Highgate, which I'm very proud of as well. About 1.7 million people of Indian heritage live here, and they make a huge contribution to the country economically, socially, and of course culturally. It is these unbreakable bonds that underpin our thriving trade and investment partnership. With the prospect of a future Free Trade Agreement and a Bilateral Investment Treaty, we have the opportunity to forge one of the world's strongest and most prosperous relationships a partnership we take immense pride in.
This convention follows our recent agreement on a new comprehensive strategic partnership, which strengthens our 2030 roadmap and further deepens the economic and cultural ties we hold in such high regard.
As you've likely heard from the Prime Minister and the Chancellor, our top priority in this government is clear: economic growth. It's the foundation of everything we aim to achieve. Without it, we cannot invest in public services, raise living standards, or drive the kind of innovation that secures long-term economic stability. The people of India and its diaspora here in the UK have a significant stake in our growth mission. By making it easier for our two nations to trade, invest, and do business, we can drive economic growth between the two nations and allow them both to prosper.
Imagine how many more success stories we can create and how much more growth we can generate through a UK-India Free Trade Agreement and Bilateral Investment Treaty.
As you've probably seen, we've been in government just over 100 days, and we've tried to waste no time in delivering our goals. In the space of just a few short months, we've launched our main work-pay plan, and we've published a blueprint for our transformational industrial strategy. We've secured £63 billion of commitments from investors at our recent International Summit, which some of you would have attended. This proves that the UK commands high business confidence with highly investable sectors too. Investor
Our Industrial Strategy Green Paper 2030 sets out our vision a credible 10-year plan to deliver the certainty and stability that businesses need to invest in different parts of our country. It takes advantage of the UK's unique strengths and untapped potential and enables Britain's world-leading services and manufacturing sectors to adapt and grow. This, in turn, will unleash opportunities for their supply chains in the UK, India, and the rest of the world.
Our strategy is pro-business, engaging on complex issues that can be significant barriers to investment. We're looking at what those barriers are and what we can do to tear them down, including recruitment of international talent, access to finance, regulation, planning, and of course, infrastructure as well.
Fortunately, we are already building on solid foundations. Just look at the investment and innovation being generated through our UK-India partnership. Tata's £4 billion Gigafactory in Somerset is set to accelerate clean growth, while Dr. Reddy's £50 million investment in consumer healthcare marks one of the largest deals in the history of India's pharmaceutical industry a development we are extremely pleased with.
Just weeks after taking office, we launched the UK India Technology Security Initiative, which will take our mutual work on emerging tech to the next level, including AI, quantum, and telecoms all areas attracting massive levels of investment and venture capital in both our economies.
We want to drive greater innovation and investment into our strongest sectors. We want to be exporting the fruits of our success through our new trade strategy a strategy that will be international from the start, building on the UK's strengths to support even more Indian businesses to thrive in our economy as well as enabling more UK businesses to export to a flourishing Indian market.
The UK and India alike have businesses crying out for greater access to export markets, and through the combination of a new trade strategy and, of course, a free trade agreement, we can provide that access. We are confident as a new government that we can realise the full potential of the commercial ties between our two nations, which is already worth £42 billion a year.
That's very good news for UK companies like Tide, who, with their financial platform, have helped over 200,000 Indian SMEs to grow and are working to onboard 500,000 women-led businesses in India by 2027. UK Export Finance also stands ready to assist British companies wanting to export their products and services to India, including the 7,500 SMEs who already do so.
Through the UKEF and HSBC SBLG scheme, £100 million has been unlocked in potential export loans, and we've already seen some great wins in this space, including Surrey-based micro-business Gas Recovery and Recycle Limited securing a £4 million export contract for India's solar energy market.
That's what this work and our partnership are about helping small businesses jump over the hurdles and barriers that bigger businesses can more easily go around. That's our intention as the new government to try and help the SMEs, especially the women-led SMEs as well.
Against the backdrop of our strategies for trade and industry, imagine how many more success stories we can create and how much more growth we can generate through a UK-India trade deal and investment treaty. Imagine how many more entrepreneurs we can inspire to take the leap into international trade and commerce from London to Delhi, Manchester to Jaipur, Edinburgh to Surrey.
The endless possibilities are before us, and we are very excited. We're following the 2030 roadmap to an even more vibrant and prosperous relationship between our two countries.
I can promise you this new government is fully committed to working with India to strengthen this partnership, and we're very pleased to be representing the government today at the conference. We hope you will invite us again, and we look forward to staying in touch and doing more business with you.
Author

Tulip Siddiq MP
Hon'ble Parliamentary Secretary - (Economic Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister), HM Treasury, Govt. of UK
Owned by: Institute of Directors, India
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