Use India's goodwill to boost trade: Lord Paul

Lord Swraj Paul, business ambassador of Britain, on Monday called upon Indian businessmen to capitalise on the goodwill and respect the country enjoys in the United Kingdom to further enhance an already flourishing Indo-British trade.

"The UK-India relationship stands at an all-time high and your business should make use of the goodwill and respect which India enjoys," Lord Swraj said while addressing members of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Young Leaders' Forum in Kolkata.

Lord Swraj, who heads the over Rs 25,000 crore (Rs 250 billion) London-based Caparo Group, said trade remains an important angle to business as is seen from the UK-India trade relationship, which has doubled in the last 10 years and is growing rapidly.

"There are countless opportunities in numerous sectors of industry," Lord Swraj, who has been specially designated by the UK government to promote business and socio economic exchanges with India, told the Young Leaders Forum.

The Indo-Britain trade now stands at 5 billion pounds and is still flourishing with plans for doubling this figure in the next five years.

He also told the young businessmen of Kolkata that the responsibility of making this growth a reality lies in their hands as "the path is clear and the route well-marked. The pendulum of growth is in your favour. Nobody can afford to stand still and I would encourage you all to work hard for you business ambitions."

Lord Paul, who went to Britain in 1966 to establish the Caparo Group which went on to become a major business house in Britain, also had a word a advice for the young businessmen on how to win and develop a business.

Successful business today often relied on global reach as the communication boom over the last decade has changed the way business is conducted. However, "it has not changed the way business is won and developed," the leading non-resident Indian industrialist said.

"Being available to your customer, being able to work closely with your supplier, having a feel for the market -- all these are important and can rarely be achieved satisfactorily through satellite or fibre optic cable," Lord Paul said.

Indian and British companies were aware of the fact and UK is now one of the largest cumulative investors in India, while there are over 450 Indian companies operating in the UK, most of them successfully.

Emphasising that business is fiercely competitive in today's world as there is constant drive to differentiate and add value, Lord Paul said he was sure that the values with which many Indian businessmen are familiar can and will make their business activities competitive.