Beckingham to visit Rajkot

In a bid to explore business opportunities with the tier-II town of Rajkot, Peter Beckingham, the British Deputy High Commissioner for Western India will be leading a team to Rajkot on January 12 and 13, 2011.

The team will comprise senior trade and investment advisors from UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) based in the British Deputy High Commission in Mumbai and British Trade Office (BTO) in Ahmedabad as well as a Mumbai representative from International Business Wales (IBW).

While in Rajkot, Beckingham will meet leading companies, senior government officials and business personalities, apart from leading an interaction by the delegation with members of the Rajkot Chamber of Commerce & Industry (RCCI) and the Rajkot Engineering Association (REA).

"I am delighted to be visiting Rajkot which has a twinning arrangement with Leicester and people from the region have strong links with the UK. Rajkot is one of the leading growth centres in Western India and the one where the UK hopes to increase its business presence and interests," said Beckingham.

"Many engineering goods and commodities items exports from Rajkot and Saurashtra are exported to UK. Among them are auto parts, casting parts and refractory bricks, groundnuts and sesame seeds that form main export items. There are many business opportunities in UK but as compared to China and USA, the country is conservative in trade with India and takes long time in decision-making," said Sunil Lakhani, ex joint secretary, REA.

The visit to Rajkot is a continuation of an outreach initiative started by UKTI to reach out to Indian companies outside major metros in order to explore opportunities for business collaborations between UK and Indian industry. The initiative is also aimed at working with Indian companies to realise their global aspirations, by assisting them to establish their presence in the UK.