LONDON: More than 100 business and policy leaders from India joined 800 delegates from the UK, Europe and the US at the inaugural India Week, organizers said on Tuesday.
UK-based global advisory firm the Economic Policy Group said on Tuesday it had staged the event, which took place last week in England, to create a global conversation about the increasingly important role of India in the world economy, and that a wide range of cross-party policymakers had attended.
“Now the most populous country in the world, India’s economic-growth rate is the highest among major economies today (and) India’s inflation rate is lower than that of the UK, the US and other major economies,” the organization said. “As the Western world diversifies its supply chains and geopolitical dependencies away from China, India stands to benefit.”
India Week began on May 7 with an event in Leicestershire, followed by an education conference and awards ceremony in Oxford. It moved to London on May 11 and 12, where the schedule included an “Ideas for India” conference, and two official dinners, one at the House of Commons and the other with K. T. Rama Rao, India’s minister for municipal administration and urban development; industries and commerce; and information technology, electronics and communications of Telangana. Telangana is a state in southern India, the capital of which is Hyderabad.
“KTR, as he is known, highlighted the remarkable progress made by Telangana in the last nine years (and) was optimistic that by doing things right, what China could achieve in 30 years, India could do in less than 20 years,” the Economic Policy Group said.
Rama Rao said: “As India, we have to focus on the fundamentals and basics the way Telangana did. We need to focus on the farmer, the youth, while creating a future that is based in innovation and making India a leader in the fourth Industrial Revolution.”
During the Telangana delegation’s visit to the UK for the event, Rama Rao and Anthony McCarthy, chief information officer of the London Stock Exchange Group, signed a memorandum of understanding for the establishment of a Technology Center of Excellence in Hyderabad expected to create up to 1,000 jobs.
Nigel Huddleston, the British minister of state for international trade, said he was “delighted to speak to our friends from India during India Week and highlight how a free-trade agreement can benefit both nations.”
He added: “A UK-India trade deal is a huge opportunity for both sides, and could boost our £36 billion ($44.9 billion) trading relationship and pull down barriers to trade.”
Ruth Cadbury, Labour’s shadow minister for international trade, said: “The conference showed the close links between our two countries and the important work we can do around energy security and trade.”
Pratik Dattani, the managing director of Economic Policy Group, said: “India is the world’s largest democracy, most populous country and has the fastest economic growth rate among major economies.
“During India Week, we saw interest from governments from across India in engaging foreign investors to bring new ideas, innovation and investment into their cities.”
