FTA with India brings 'genuine' competitive advantage, UK Parliament told
London, The
Free Trade Agreement
(FTA) negotiations concluded with India places the UK at a "genuine" competitive advantage in the manufacturing sector, the House of Commons was told this week.
During a debate on the bilateral FTA agreed last month, UK Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds fielded a series of questions on the advantages of the deal which has been pegged to increase bilateral trade by GBP 25.5 billion annually in the long term.
Reynolds reiterated that the pact marked a huge economic win for the UK as the "best deal that India has ever offered".
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"On advanced manufacturing... a set of advantageous positions has been agreed, putting this country at a genuine competitive advantage, particularly in relation to sectors such as automotive and machinery," said Reynolds, in response to a question by British Sikh Labour MP for Smethwick, West Midlands, Gurinder Singh Josan.
"India is traditionally a very protectionist economy, and it is the world's fastest growing big economy. Whether it is for goods or services... or the West Midlands as a whole, there is so much good stuff here to celebrate," added the minister.
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The debate this week comes ahead of UK-India Week, which begins next week as part of the annual
India Global Forum
(IGF) summit in London.
The India-UK FTA is set to dominate the agenda, with Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal among the speakers expected to address the forum.
It will also mark the launch of the 2025 edition of the 'India Meets Britain Tracker', which analyses the investment flows by Indian companies into the UK.
"Indian companies continue to play a pivotal role in the UK's growth story - from job creation to innovation. This year's tracker showcases their growing diversification, scale and resilience, and reflects the growing maturity and confidence of Indian enterprise on the global stage," said Anuj Chande, Partner and Head of South Asia Business Group at Grant Thornton, which produces the annual analysis with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
With the UK and India ranking as the sixth and fourth largest economies respectively, the Tracker offers insights into one of the world's most strategic investment corridors following last year's report setting a new record of 971 Indian-owned companies operating in the UK - a figure that has been consistently on an upward trajectory.
"Indian businesses are no longer just investing abroad - they are transforming global economies," said IGF founder Manoj Ladwa.
According to the UK's Department for Business and Trade (DBT), the India-UK FTA slashes tariffs across the board and is set to increase UK GDP by GBP 4.8 billion and wages by GBP 2.2 billion each year over the next decade.
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