Britain Hopes For EU-India Free Trade Accord This Year.

Chennai, March 18 (IANS) British Trade and Investment Minister Stephen Green said he hoped the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and the European Union (EU) would be concluded by the end of this year.

Speaking to reporters here Friday, Green said: 'We hope the European Union-India Free Trade Agreement may be there by the end of this year. I had discussed this issue with Indian government officials.'

According to him, there are 'some sensitive areas' for both the parties in the deal. For India it may be opening up of its services sector while for some countries in the EU the proposal relating to agriculture and movement of people are sensitive issues.

He said FTA is not a zero sum game but is advantageous to both the parties signing the deal.

He said the United Kingdom is also keen on early completion of the Doha Round of talks because a successful conclusion at Doha will add $160 billion to the global economy.

India is the 18th largest market for Britain, for both export and import of merchandise goods. India's exports in 2009-10 were $6.23 billion and imports were valued at $4.42 billion.

Britain is also the fourth largest inward investor into India, after Mauritius, Singapore and the US. Its share is above 5 percent of the total foreign investment.

The cumulative total of equity invested in India till September 2010 stood at $6.21 billion. Now India is also emerging as one of the largest investors in Britain, with some big ticket buy-outs such as steelmaker Corus and automakers Jaguar-Land Rover.

Queried about his meeting with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Duvvuri Subbarao during his current visit, he said: 'We discussed about monetary policy. The UK welcomes the RBI's idea of having foreign bank branches as Indian subsidiaries rather than being a branch.'

While stating that foreign banks in India should also play their part in financial inclusion, he also said Indian banks like State Bank of India (SBI) were doing good business in the UK.

On his meeting with Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas S. Jaipal Reddy early this week, Green said the discussions were on Reliance Industries' investment as well as other matters.

Last month, the UK oil giant BP and India's Reliance Industries signed a $7.2 billion deal whereby the former would acquire 30 percent stake in the latter's 23 oil blocks.

According to Green, the UK will in 2011-12 reinforce its campaign in India's emerging cities to identify further opportunities for bilateral trade and investment.

He said that while UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) has already been engaging with around 2,000 Indian businesses in over 20 emerging cities targeted since 2009, they will reinforce this outreach activity in five of these cities during the next twelve months: Coimbatore, Vadodara, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh and Visakhapatnam.

In addition, UKTI plans to reach out to Indian companies in newer emerging cities such as Nashik, Rajkot, Jalandhar, Kanpur and Vijayawada.

Green said many of India's emerging cities have often been overlooked in favour of more familiar cities. UK companies should delve beyond the traditional business hubs and seek out new opportunities in these rapidly expanding cities.

Source : sify.com