Thaindian News

New Delhi, June 21 (IANS) Bilateral trade between India and Britain, which crossed $12 billion last fiscal, has the potential to touch $40 billion by 2015, according to an industry lobby report.
The report by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said: “CII proposes a target for merchandise trade at $40 billion by 2015 with special emphasis on expanding services trade to $12 billion and exploring other business avenues.”

The industry will launch CII India Business Forum-UK to promote bilateral trade between the two countries.

The forum will be launched during CII’s annual CEOs’ mission to Britain June 21-23, the statement said.

The mission, led by CII president Venu Srinivasan, holds importance in the light of global financial crisis and the emphasis will be on “taking the robust India-UK economic partnership to new sectors, new regions and new enterprise levels,” the lobby said.

The 16-member delegation will also focus on taking India-Britain ties into a strategic direction, uncovering new avenues of collaboration, and addressing issues of global concern such as regulation of the financial system, climate change and security.

“Other top items on the mission agenda include partnerships for promoting trade and investments, skill development and higher education, cooperation in advanced manufacturing, and exploring emerging business areas like clean products, nanotechnology and life sciences,” CII said.

The confederation will also organise conference, CII-India Conference on Managing the Global Crisis, in Britain, which will be addressed by Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma.

The delegation will also meet with Lord Peter Mandelson, secretary of state at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Andrew Cahn, chief executive of UK Trade and Investment and David Cameron, leader of the Conservative Party among other top officials.