The UK is the first European country to pursue a trade deal with India and expects to double its trade by 2030, said Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer, UK, at the India Global Forum 2021.
“We’re super excited about the UK-India relationship and have a target of doubling our trade by 2030. The UK is a heavily services-oriented economy, and so is India, which offers a great opportunity for our two nations to liberalise services trade,” said the chancellor. “It’s fantastic that Indian companies can get access to the capital to thrive, and they can do that using London’s financial services.”
This is the first major free trade agreement (FTA) for India since 2011 when it signed a comprehensive deal with Malaysia. India inked a minor FTA with Mauritius in February this year.
“I think there are lots of reasons to be excited about the relationship, but it should be broader and deeper than just trade,” Sunak added.
In terms of economic outlook, the UK’s GDP data is outperforming expectations, and the government remains cautiously optimistic about the year ahead.
Measures taken by the UK government and stimulus packages announced during the last one year of the pandemic helped in minimising the damage done to the economy, according to the chancellor.
“At the start of this crisis, people were forecasting unemployment to reach 12 per cent in the UK. However, now it is estimated to be half of that, that's two million fewer people who are going to lose their jobs as a result of what we've done. And that I think puts us in a very strong position,” he said.