U.K. seeks Indian support for new trade round

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, OCT. 31. The U.K. has sought India's support for a new trade round to be launched at the coming Doha ministerial conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

According to the visiting British Minister for e-Commerce and Competitiveness, Mr. Douglas Alexander, Governments around the world, including India and the U.K. must continue to show a resolve that the events of September 11 would not undermine the global economy.

It was now more important than ever to resist sliding into protectionism and boost international confidence. Expressing the British Government's view, he said the trading system needed to be made more fair, inclusive and user-friendly for business.

He felt the best way to aim for this would be to launch a broad- based round at Doha that would all WTO members to bring their concerns on the table.

Addressing a meeting organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), he stressed the importance of Indo-British bilateral relations which have grown stronger over the last decade.

Both the U.K and India have benefited from the shared experiences of economic liberalisation and privatisation. Last year, trade between India and the U.K. had grown by 28 per cent and was now worth $8 billions. However, there was still scope for improvement, he said.

Focussing on the IT sector, he said British companies already have strong ties with the Indian IT companies and expressed the hope that the collaboration would grow in the future.

The NASSCOM chairman, Mr. Phiroze Vandrevala, said the U.K. was the only country in which Indian IT companies have had an unfettered access to international markets.

The U.K. accounted for 75 per cent of the total trade with Europe in the IT sector.

Earlier, the CII president, Mr. Sanjiv Goenka, said that in the backdrop of the recent international turmoil and subsequent drop in international travel, the business of e-commerce had gained special significance. He highlighted four dimensions that were dominant in the sector and would determine its shape in the years to come.

First, he said it was clear there was an emerging focus on positioning India as the world's preferred source for software research and development. This niche area alone had fetched $one billion in export earnings in the current year.

Secondly, he said the consolidation of India's strength as the provider of competitive IT-enabled services was well on the way and the establishment of global organisations such as GE, British Airways and American Express in this sector were a testimony of the tremendous potential that existed.

Third, he felt the concerted and widespread application of IT in the corporate sector and emergence of e-governance in various States would enhance efficiency and competitiveness. The fourth dimension was the comprehensive exploitation of the benefits of convergence, he said.

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