President's Column: A 'living bridge ' for UK and India trade

I am delighted that the UK and India have launched negotiations on an ambitious Free Trade Agreement, writes Dr Jason Wouhra.

Not the least because the West Midlands India Partnership, which I chair, has developed a five-point strategy for creating a “living bridge ” between the two countries.

We aim to make the West Midlands the beating heart of the UK 's relationship with India by establishing it as a top destination for Indian tourists and increasing direct flights from Birmingham Airport.

Our second ambition is two grow the region 's science and education partnership with India by driving innovation and speeding R&D collaboration.

We aim to achieve this by positioning the UK as India 's No 1 innovation partner and attracting outstanding India talent, both professional and academic, to study in the region.

Thirdly, we aim to work with India to increase two-way trade and investment by establishing more dynamic “corridor ” partnerships. This will position the West Midlands as THE location of choice to fulfil India 's global innovation ambitions.

We will also work towards increasing towards establishing a partnership to maintain sustained engagements with India with mutual benefits.

And lastly we have the Birmingham Commonwealth Games at the forefront of minds for forging new West Midlands-India relationships through its business and tourism programme and the India-UK 2030 roadmap.

All of this is with the background that DIT analysis shows a trade agreement with India could boost the economies of all nations and regions of the UK.

The latest figures show that already almost 30,000 people in the West Midlands were employed via Indian investment.

On top of that the region could see a massive boost of up to £300 million, with further opportunities for manufacturers of motor vehicles and parts.

And the UK as a whole will benefit through International investment from Indian companies, which already supports 95,000 and could grow with a new trade deal

There is no doubt that a deal with India would be a big step forward in the UK's strategy to refocus trade on the Indo-Pacific, home to half of the world's population and 50 per cent of global economic growth.

And this should be a win-win scenario for both the UK and India.

India is one of the world 's biggest and fastest-growing economies and a bold new deal would put UK businesses at the front of the queue to supply India 's growing middle class, forecast to increase to a quarter of a billion consumers by 2050.

And the value of that has to be taken on the context that India is set to become the world 's third biggest economy by 2050, with a bigger population than the US and EU combined.

A deal has the potential to almost double UK exports to India, boost our total trade by as much as £28 billion a year by 2035, and increase wages across the UK by up to £3 billion

The UK wants an agreement that slashes barriers to doing business and trading with India 's £2 trillion economy and market of 1.4 billion consumers, including cutting tariffs on exports of British-made cars and Scotch whisky.

This trade deal can unlock a new era of partnership and pave the way for significant trade and investment opportunities for UK and Indian businesses.

The UK wants an agreement that slashes barriers to doing business and trading with India 's £2 trillion economy and a market of 1.4 billion consumers, including cutting tariffs on exports of British-made cars and Scotch whisky.

Removing duties alone would increase exports to India by up to £6.8 billion, supporting tens of thousands of jobs across the UK. Important UK exports like Scotch whisky and cars currently face enormous duties of 150 per cent and 125 per cent respectively.

India's total food and drink trade to the UK increased by an eye-watering 82.04 per cent in ten years from 2009 - by $479.97 million to $873.72 million. This will increase exponentially.

And the UK 's world-leading renewables industry should also benefit from a deal that reduces barriers because the Indian government plans to install 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022 and much more in the coming decades. With import tariffs currently at 15 per cent on wind turbine parts from the UK, the benefit to climate change is obvious.

So will look forward with great interest to the outcomes of the UK-India trade negotiations, which start seriously next week.

Jason Wouhra is president of the Asian Business Chamber of Commerce, chair of the West Midlands India Partnership and chief executive of Lioncroft Wholesale Ltd T/A East End Wholesale.