India-UK Free Trade Agreement-Deepening ties

Trade Promotion Council of India organized a webinar on ‘India-UK Free Trade Agreement- Linking markets with the deepening of ties’ on 30^th July 2021. As part of the ‘Enhanced Trade Partnership’ (ETP) initiative between India and the UK, both economies have agreed to negotiate a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), talks of which are expected to begin by the end of 2021. Over the past ten years, annual bilateral trade between India and the UK has been above US$ 10 billion, standing at US$ 12.48 billion in 2020. In terms of investment, during April 2000-March 2021, the UK accounted for 5.71% of FDI inflow into India, making it the 6th largest investor in the country. On the other hand, India accounted for 0.6% of total FDI inflow into the UK in 2019, investing US$ 11.3 billion.

The esteemed panelists in the webinar discussed the impact of the FTA on the economic and trade growth of both economies. The panelists opined that in the political context, current times are the best suited to pursue a trade agreement as governments of both sides are keenly interested in deepening their relations. They further said that the FTA is important in kickstarting both the economies post pandemic and establishing resilient supply chains.

The panelists in the webinar included:

• Ishtiyaque Ahmed, Adviser (Industry-I), NITI Aayog, GOI
• Dr. E Vishnu Vardhan Reddy, Director (Europe West Division), Ministry of External Affairs, GOI
• Mr Himanshu Tewari, Partner, Trade & Customs in KPMG India
• Jayen Mahta, Senior General Manager (Planning & Marketing) at Amul (GCMMF)
• Arpita Mukherjee, Professor at Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER)
• Rohit Singh, Director at UK India Business Council (UKIBC)

The webinar was moderated by Sameer Pushp, Director, Media and Corporate Communication, Trade Promotion Council of India.