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Business Secretary Sajid Javid to start preliminary trade talks with India during a series of discussions in Delhi.

• Business Secretary Sajid Javid was in Delhi recently (8 July 2016) where he launched initial discussions on the UK’s future trade relationship with India
• first in a series of visits to key trade partners the Business Secretary is expected to undertake across the globe
• Business Secretary also confirms government will rapidly build its expertise on trade, with up to 300 specialist staff to be in place by year end

Business Secretary Sajid Javid kicked-off preliminary trade talks with India recently (8 July 2016) when he met the Indian Finance and Commerce Ministers during a series of discussions in Delhi.

The Business Secretary used the meetings with Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to outline his vision for what a future trade relationship between the UK and India might look like outside the EU.

It is the first in a series of trade meetings the Business Secretary will conduct over the coming months, which also is expected to include trips to the USA, China, Japan and South Korea.

The Business Secretary has also confirmed that to aid in discussions, the government plans to rapidly build its trade capability – up to 300 specialist staff, including new trade negotiators – by the end of the year.

Business Secretary Sajid Javid said recently:

Following the referendum result, my absolute priority is making sure the UK has the tools it needs to continue to compete on the global stage.

That is why I am in India today to launch these initial trade discussions. There is a strong bilateral trade relationship between our 2 countries and I am determined that we build on this.

Over the coming months, I will be conducting similar meetings with other key trade partners, outlining the government’s vision for what the UK’s future trade relationship might look like.

As part of the discussions, the Business Secretary made it clear that he would like the UK and India to have a trade agreement in place as soon as possible after the UK leaves the EU.

The Business Secretary has also been speaking to British diplomats last week, urging them to utilise their expertise and meet with their governments and local investors to make clear the UK remains an open and viable trade partner.

Speaking at the FCO Leadership Conference on Tuesday (5 July 2016), the Business Secretary urged diplomats to make it known to their countries’ governments that the UK was looking to expand its options for trade deals.

Trade and Investment Minister Lord Price has been in Hong Kong and China this week, attending the G20 trade ministers meeting in Shanghai and meeting key government and business representatives. This is part of the government’s engagement with key trade partners, reinforcing the UK’s ongoing commitment to maintaining and strengthening the economic relationship between the countries.

Alongside visiting Delhi, the Business Secretary was also be in Mumbai where he met senior Tata Group board members to discuss the ongoing sale of their UK steelmaking assets.

Notes to editors:

1. India and the UK have always had traditionally close trade ties: the UK is the largest G20 investor in India, while India invests more in the UK than the rest of the European Union combined. India has also emerged as the third largest source of FDI for the UK.

2. Last year, bilateral trade in goods and services between the 2 countries was £16.55 billion (in goods was £11.43 billion while trade in services was £5.11 billion)

3. According to the government of India data, the UK is the third largest investor in India for the period April 2000 to September 2015, with cumulative inflows of $22.5 billion.

4. In 2014 to 2015, the UK won a record number of investment projects and is India’s top investment destination in Europe. India is also Britain’s third biggest job creator in 2014, with a 65% increase in FDI.

5. A new industry report by CII and Grant Thornton tracking Indian companies based in the UK has revealed that many of them are boosting growth rates in the country, registering a combined increase in revenue of £4 billion: from £22 billion in 2014 to £26 billion in 2015.

6. According to London and Partners in 2015 Indians also become the second biggest job creators in London. Indian companies created 504 new jobs this year in London alone - second only to the Americans who created 1983 jobs.

7. In 2014 to 2015 Indian investments in 122 FDI projects created 7,730 new jobs and safeguarded 1,620 jobs in UK.