UK Trade Secy arrives to jumpstart FTA talks

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New Delhi, December 12

UK Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch arrived here for the sixth round of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations between the UK and India. Badenoch will meet Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal to strengthen ties between the two countries and reinvigorate talks on an ambitious bilateral trade deal, said a UK government statement.

She will address both teams of senior negotiators ahead of the sixth round of formal negotiations taking place throughout the week.

The talks — the first formal round since July — will target a deal to cut tariffs and open opportunities for UK services such as financial and legal, making it easier for British businesses to sell to an economy set to be the world’s third largest — with a middle-class of 250 million people — by 2050.

During her visit, the Trade Secretary will also meet business leaders to better understand their needs for a modern UK-India trade relationship. This will include a meeting with envoPAP, a UK company investing over £10 million in India to construct a plant producing Fairtrade paper and packaging products.

Strong growth in the Indian economy is expected to boost UK exports to India by over £9 billion by the middle of the next decade.