Date:31/10/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/10/31/stories/2006103117591200.htm

National

Advantage India, says Prince Andrew

Special Correspondent

A better investment destination for British companies than China, says the Duke of York

Photo: Rajeev Bhatt

Britain's Prince Andrew and the past president of FICCI, Y.K. Modi at a business relations meeting in New Delhi on Monday.

New Delhi: While expressing concern over the stalling of the Doha trade talks, Prince Andrew of the U.K. has said there was nothing to stop India and the European Union (EU) from going ahead with a free trade agreement.

Speaking after a meeting with Minister of State for Industry Ashwani Kumar, he said an Indo-EU FTA would be a step in the right direction.

The Duke of York, who is visiting here as the Special Representative of the U.K. for International Trade and Investment, described India as a better investment destination for British companies than China even while pointing out that it was unfair to compare the two countries.

He said the environment was different in both countries. But he felt India had an advantage for British investors because of the common language, the existence of rule and democracy.

Prince Andrew and Mr. Kumar also discussed the prospects of opening up of the legal services sector in this country as well as further liberalisation of foreign direct investment norms and reforms in the banking sector.

Mr. Kumar told him about the huge opportunities that India offered for British companies. "In the construction sector alone, the Indian Government has earmarked 15 billion dollars over the next 20 years to upgrade and extend airport capacity in the country. This is an area in which U.K. companies could have a major share. Oil, gas and power sector require billions of dollars of investment in the near future," he said, citing the success of Cairn Energy, Prudential Insurance and PowerGen UK.

Addressing a meeting of Indian and British businessmen at a special session organised by FICCI, Prince Andrew spelt out the key areas where the two nations needed to work together to improve the bilateral trade volume.

He made an impassioned plea to free up the U.K. legal and financial services to work in India for upscaling the skill sets of the Indian workforce.

Alluding to the concerns about the impact of liberalisation on Indian farmers, retailers and lawyers he said these issues would need to be worked through "sensitively to India's satisfaction".