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 Lord Dholakia, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords, spoke during a debate on Indian Investment in the United Kingdom on the 23rd June 2009.
Lord Dholakia began by noting the recent general election in India and the monumental organisational feat of getting hundreds of millions to the polls. He was disappointed by the relative low turnout at the European elections.
He moved on to speak about the general weakness of the UK when it comes to interacting with Indian businesses. 'The UK's reception of Indian business teams is the weakest in Europe. France, for example, hosted bilateral trade talks with Indian and French businesses, with over 200 French corporations represented. The UK is also under-utilising its small and medium enterprises in its trade relations with India.' He went on to describe what joint partnerships there were as 'disjointed and…piecemeal.'
He noted that this was a longstanding problem but drew attention to the work of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) with other European countries. 'FICCI has been doing this with all other European communities, such as France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. Why not the United Kingdom?'
'It will generate enormous growth in entrepreneurial activity, which is one of the most important forms of economic growth in the recession. With ordinary avenues of employment shut down, many highly skilled individuals are unemployed. Their skills need to be harnessed and the self-starters encouraged in engaging in creative, innovative work.' Further to that he added, 'organised dialogue in all sectors and also across urban and rural areas between India and the UK is the key to achieving millennium development goal number one: the eradication of poverty.'
Lord Dholakia concluded by saying, 'In the 17th century, Britain entered into trade with India in the name of the British East India Company. That was 250 years ago and provided us with 250 years of British rule. I promise one thing: Indians are not here to establish Indian rule or an Indian Raj, but they can surely show a way out of the dire economic predicament in which we find ourselves.'
DFID's Urbanisation and Poverty Programme
Virendra Sharma visits Nigeria
 Virendra Sharma MP for Ealing Southall visited Nigeria earlier this month as part of the International Development Parliamentary Select inquiry into DFID's Programme in Urbanisation and Poverty. The visit took place between 10th-18th June and involved meetings and site visits in Lagos, Kaduna, Kano and Abuja. The purpose of the trip was for the International Development Parliamentary Select Committee, of which Mr. Sharma is a member, to evaluate and scrutinise DFID's Programme in Nigeria and the wider global issue of Urbanisation and Poverty.
Commenting on the visit the MP said, “The trip to Nigeria was extremely eye opening and insightful. I enjoyed engaging with the local people and programme workers of DFIDs funded programmes. The topic of urbanisation and poverty is particularly relevant considering half of the world's population now lives in cities and 95% of the world's urban growth is in the developing world.”
The International Development Parliamentary Select Committee inquiry into urbanisation and poverty focuses upon how effectively developing country governments and donors are addressing the challenges presented by urban poverty. It also includes the exploration of key issues, including the provision of basic services and infrastructure in slums, supporting opportunities for employment and livelihoods for the urban poor and the role of property rights in improving the lives of slum dwellers.
Mr Sharma added: “Many people moving into towns and cities often become slum dwellers lacking access to basic services and amenities. Thus, it is vital for the International Development Parliamentary Select Committee to suggest to DFID ways its programme can be improved to eliminate poverty in urban areas. The trip also allowed members of the Committee the opportunity to ensure that UK tax payer's money that funds the DFID projects we visited is being well spent and reaching the people it was intended for and I am happy to report this was the case.” The main outcome of the visit will be outlined in two reports the Committee will produce on these topics later this year.
For more information call Virendra Sharma MP on 07903 003212 or Julian Bell on 07903 424905
Bank of Baroda
Impressive growth
 Bank of Baroda's Chairman & Managing Director Mr. M D Mallya was in Europe in the middle of June 2009. During his visit he had several engagements including meetings with bank's investors / customers and JV partners.
The bank recently hit headlines for achieving a robust net profit growth for quarter ended 31st March 2009 by 172% to Rs. 7,530m (£101m/$153m) against Rs. 2,760m ( £37m/$56m) in the same quarter last year. The bank's impressive performance, especially in current times of financial turbulence, has resulted in Bank of Baroda acquiring the position of 3rd Largest Public Sector Bank in India in terms of Net Profit and Total Business for fiscal 2008-09.
For the current year, Mr. Mallya is looking at credit growth of 23-24% and profits to rise at least by 20%. The bank also plans to continue its overseas expansion drive in 2009-10.
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