UK sets up resource centre in Guwahati

The British government, in association with the government of Assam, today opened its new information centre in Guwahati.

The centre would be a point to access information in a comfortable ambience, on education, business, economic development, tourism and other sectors.

Dr Kim Howells, British Minister of state for Foreign and Commonwealth affairs, told the media that he would like to see more entrepreneurs from Assam and the North East use the British deputy high commission in Kolkata to do business with the UK.

The centre will be equipped to allow businessmen access databanks on UK companies.

The centre would play a key role in many areas of work done by a foreign embassy, Howells said on his two-day visit to Assam.  The new information centre would give information to entrepreneurs looking for UK involvement in their businesses.

Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi, who formally inaugurated the centre, said the project was welcome facility for the people of Assam and hoped that it would help people from all walks of life access information about the UK.  Gogoi was confident that the centre would help to further strengthen the cultural and business relations between Assam and the UK.

Simon Wilson, Deputy British High Commissioner to eastern India, said the centre could guide tourist and business visitors to UK, give details on how to obtain a visa and even supply visa forms. Education was a focus area for the Indo-UK partnership and the number of Indian students in the UK had risen from 4000 five years ago to over 20,000 today, he said.

"We need to reinvest in top level educational links and steps have been taken recently to further our educational exchanges", he added. 

Howells said the UK-India Education and Research Initiative, announced by British Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2006, "aims to substantially improve" educational links between India and the UK. 

"We have committed 10 million pounds already and our finance minister announced in his budget last year an additional £2 million to enhance collaborative partnership", he said.