India-UK Joint Economic and Trade Committee Meeting: Highlights

The 14th Edition of the Joint Economic and Trade Committee Meeting between India and the UK took place on July 25 in the virtual mode and the main point of discussion was the trade relationship between the two countries. Both the countries decided to work on an enhanced trade partnership that could be a pathway to the free trade agreement between the countries.

The new global tariff coming into force next year is going to prove beneficial for India, according to the UK since the Indian exporters will be able to export with reduced tariff, even if assuming that all the duties are levied. The UK companies have also got permission for registration of polyhalite, a multi-nutrient fertilizer mined in Britain that could help Indian farmers increase yields while supporting a cleaner and sustainable future for agriculture.

The meeting was also followed by a business plenary organized by the UK-India Business Council and in this, the ministers spoke with businesses from both the sides about the shared ambition to deepen the economic ties between the two countries.

As of now, Indian and British investments support more than half a million jobs in each other’s economies. There are around 842 companies based in the UK, employing more than 100000 people and their revenues in the last fiscal were almost 41 billion pounds. On the other hand, the UK is the second-fastest-growing G20 investor in India over the past 10 years with an investment of more than 22 billion pounds and helping create more than 422000 jobs.

India is the second-biggest investor in the UK with 120 new projects and more than 5000 new jobs, as on 2019-2020.

Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO)

It provides a forum to United Kingdom companies to enhance their links and develop new partnerships with businesses in India and also the decision-makers here. It involves government to government negotiations addressing issues of market liberalization and market access. The UK-India Business Council plays an important role in making this a success. One of the main objectives of JETCO is to make the biggest investors in the UK invest in India.

UK-India Business Council

It is a membership-based non-profit organization founded in 2007 in order to bolster trade relations between the UK and India. It works with businesses in both countries as well as the UK and Indian governments in order to promote bilateral trade between the countries. It also supports the UK businesses with the insights, networks, policy advocacy, services and facilities needed to sustain in India.


Month: 

Leave a Reply