13/01/2006

Trade Minister to visit India and Sri Lanka

Trade Minister Ian Pearson is to visit India and Sri Lanka next week, it has been announced.

Mr Pearson will visit India from January 16 - 18 and Sri Lanka from January 19 - 20. The visit will be the government's third trade and investment visit to India within the past year and is part of plans to develop a bilateral business relationship with the country.

The Sri Lankan visit will be the first visit by a British Minister since the election of the new Sri Lankan government in November 2005.

Mr Pearson will be accompanied in his visit to India by a business delegation, led by Indo British Partnership Network Chairman Karan Bilimoria. The delegation will include representatives from companies such as GlaxoSmithKline, Virgin Atlantic, Standard Chartered Bank and the London Stock Exchange.

During his visit to India, Mr Pearson will meet with British Exhibitors at Autoexpo in Delhi, address a seminar on financing growth economies in Chennai.

In Sri Lanka, the Minister will view the post-tsunami construction effort and meet with senior trade ministers.

Commenting on the visit, Mr Pearson said: "The UK and India are engaged in one of the most profitable and significant bilateral trade and investment partnerships in the world.

"Throughout this visit, I will have opportunities to meet with senior Indian ministers to talk about how we can work together to continue to achieve our shared goals in the international arena."

Mr Pearson added: "The UK is the largest European investor in Sri Lanka and I especially look forward to meeting with UK NGOs and businesses working on post-tsunami reconstruction."

(KMcA/GB)




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