High-profile West Bengal govt delegation and ICC meets London Chamber representatives

The important meeting coincided with the UK visit of Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee.

The Delegation also had senior business captains from the state.  The meeting, which focused on enhancing UK – Bengal trade & investment linkages through strategic partnerships in key sectors, was chaired by Chief Secretary Sanjay Mitra, who  briefed about the recent policy and procedural changes introduced by the State Government and the various possible business opportunities for UK-based industry houses and entrepreneurs.

The UK Companies expressed interest in areas / sectors like Mining, Training/Skills development, Smart Cities, Urban Transport, Arbitration Centre in Kolkata, Real Estate , River front development & beautification etc.

With a view to promote and further strengthen business-to-business exchanges, the London Chamber of Commerce also agreed to sign an MOU with ICC , and this agreement is expected to facilitate continuous interaction and follow-up support to UK businesses for the purpose of Doing Business with West Bengal.  

The London Chamber offered to publicise business opportunities in West Bengal through their Monthly Magazine which has a wide circulation. The State Govt. agreed to provide knowledge inputs and articles highlighting the advantage of the state, in this regard.

Chief Secretary also invited a Delegation from the London Chamber to attend the next “Bengal Global Business Summit” (BGBS) during January 2016 for exploring business opportunities for long-term mutual benefits, to which the Chamber Members agreed.   During the discussion, the London Chamber members agreed to introduce underground/deep mining technology for CBM projects in West Bengal. CBM was highlighted as an important opportunity and the need for suitable technology to harness it, was expressed by the Bengal delegation.

As a step forward in this regard, it was decided that a Mining delegation from the UK will visit Kolkata after attending the Annual ICC Coal Seminar in New Delhi during September this year.

The ICC and other Industry Captains from Bengal highlighted the ease of doing business initiatives of the State Govt. and the current positive business environment existing in the state. 

Chief Secretary asked the ICC to coordinate with the London Chamber of Commerce for further follow-up action. The Indian Chamber feels that this meeting would open up new trade & investment opportunities for both UK and Bengal, and will actively partner the State Govt. in this regard, in the coming days.