NEW DELHI, Dec 8: Experts from India and the UK are discussing issues related to ease of doing business including regulatory and inspection reforms, tax administration, trade facilitation, insolvency, electricity, land registry and standards at a two-day conference which began here today.
The conference follows the commitments made by UK Prime Minister Theresa May and Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month.
A Commerce Ministry statement described the conference as the “most ambitious” outreach yet undertaken on the ease of doing business, adding that it will act as a “springboard to propel the strategic bilateral partnership between the two countries to the next level”.
“It (the conference) will showcase India’s focus on simplifying its business ecosystem and making it a preferred business destination, as well as the work that the UK government is doing to share the key features of its globally renowned business ecosystem and practices.
“Representatives from various Indian state governments will also highlight their business reform action plan, implementation strategy, and lessons & leanings,” it said.
On Wednesday, Government gave ex post facto approval to an MoU between India and the United Kingdom to support ease of doing business in India.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Currently, India is ranked 130th among 190 economies (as per Doing Business Report, 2017) while UK is at 7th. The UK government has achieved phenomenal improvement in its rankings in recent years.
“The India and UK partnership on ease of doing business is important because of the role that the business environment plays in encouraging trade, investment, innovation and economic growth,” the statement said.
During the UK Prime Minister’s visit to India last month, both Modi and May witnessed the exchange of a Memorandum of Understanding on the ease of doing business, which said how the UK and India would work together to share expertise and best practice.
The conference is the next step in this process, bringing together officials from state and Central Government in India with UK experts.
The conference was jointly inaugurated by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion Secretary Ramesh Abhishek and British High Commissioner Sir Dominic Asquith. (PTI)
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