“It is fantastic to be in India again visiting the vibrant cities of Pune and Bengaluru to find out how our strong cultural and economic ties mean investors and business leaders continue to choose the UK.
“From life sciences to AI, now is the time to invest in the UK as we are determined to be the undisputed number one investment destination in Europe.”
Lord Dominic Johnson, the UK’s Investment Minister, is in India this week to not only push the dial on the UK-India investment partnership across technology and life sciences sectors but also to build momentum behind the ongoing free trade agreement (FTA) talks.
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) said the minister begins his “priority market” India visit with Bengaluru – the tech capital of India, before moving on to Pune to meet investors and leading Indian businesses, including Infosys and Zensar, to drum up investor interest. His visit comes as both sides began the ninth round of FTA negotiations this week.
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Lord Johnson will also use his visit to promote the Global Investment Summit 2023, which will bring together over 200 CEOs of multinational companies and investment corporations in the UK later this year. According to the UK government, the inaugural Summit in 2021 secured nearly £10 billion of new foreign investment on the day, with this year’s event set to showcase emerging UK success stories in life sciences, deep tech, nuclear fusion and small modular reactors (SMRs), and manufacturing.
The DBT said the UK-India investment partnership is thriving, with over £28 billion invested in each other’s economies supporting over half a million jobs.
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According to official UK government statistics, total trade in goods and services (exports plus imports) between the UK and India was £34 billion in the four quarters to the end of Q3 2022, an increase of 51.7 per cent or £11.6 billion from the four quarters to the end of Q3 2021. India was the UK’s 12th largest trading partner in the four quarters to the end of Q3 2022, accounting for 2.1 per cent of total UK trade.
Lord Johnson last visited India in October 2022, when he met with several investors and businesses in Mumbai and New Delhi.
