Berwick MP, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, spent three days in New Dehli earlier this week to officially launch negotiations on a new ambitious free trade deal with the world’s biggest democracy.
An agreement will create huge benefits for both the UK and India and could boost our total trade by up to £28 billion a year by 2035 and increases wages by up to £3 billion across the UK.
Ms Trevelyan met her counterpart, Indian minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, to formally start talks on the deal (pictured with Anne-Marie above).
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. 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 increases wages across the UK by up to £3 billion. Investment from Indian companies already supports 95,000 jobs across the UK.
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.
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% of global economic growth. We want to unlock this huge new market for our great British producers and manufacturers across numerous industries from food and drink to services and automotive.
As an independent, deal-making nation the UK is broadening our economic horizons and forging stronger partnerships with the fastest-growing economies of the world. India marks the start of our ambitious 5-star year of UK trade and will show how the deals we negotiate will boost the economies across all nations and help level up all regions of the UK.
Speaking of the launch of talks, Anne-Marie said:
“A deal with India is a golden opportunity to put UK businesses at the front of the queue as the Indian economy continues to grow rapidly. By 2050 India will be the world’s third largest economy with a middle class of almost 250 million shoppers. We want to unlock this huge new market for our great British producers and manufacturers across numerous industries from food and drink to services and automotive.
“As an independent, deal-making nation the UK is broadening our economic horizons and forging stronger partnerships with the fastest-growing economies of the world. India marks the start of our ambitious 5-star year of UK trade and will show how the deals we negotiate will boost the economies across all nations and help level up all regions of the UK.”
You can read more about the UK's approach to negotiating the deal HERE.