For the first time in living memory, and presumably ever, the British Business Groups (BBGs) around India held a national conference on 23-24 September 2011.
Over 150 delegates took part, largely representing the BBGs in Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Goa and Chennai.
It is difficult to summarise the conclusions of such a large group, but overall my assessment was that most of the speakers and delegates were “cautiously optimistic” about prospects for business, in particular with the UK, over the next year or so. This mood was captured well by some research especially commissioned by the conference’s platinum sponsor KPMG, who surveyed a range of UK companies doing business with India. A number of respondents to the survey were critical of the lack of skills and quality of education in India, and also raised concerns about the frequency of changes in regulation and the implementation of tax reform. But despite these issues the survey concluded that “India stands out as being a preferred destination for UK businesses, which were not put off by geo-political or terrorist issues”.
Many of the speakers underlined the uncertainties for the Indian economy caused by international economic turbulence, and there was agreement that there would be a downturn to around 7-7.5 per cent GDP growth in the next year. But business leaders from both India and the UK acknowledged that even reduced growth would continue to see a huge amount of change in the country over the next five years and more. So long as the Government and States could push through agricultural reform, and make real inroads into the infrastructure and education deficit, the country was bound to see a continued sea change in opportunities. These were not developments which would take a frequent visitor by surprise by their speed, but over the longer-term most speakers were confident that the country should continue its move to becoming one of the largest global economic forces.
With that growth a number of speakers said that they were looking for India to take a more assertive position in international fora like the G20. At the micro level a number of UK business underlined the need for greater certainty and less bureaucracy for inward investors, as well as the important backdrops for both UK and Indian companies of Britain’s new anti-bribery legislation and the recent public groundswell in India for a more assertive stance against corruption.
Inevitably there were differing views about the roles of BBG’s for UK business, but no-one was left in any doubt that whatever their size they provided an important platform for UK companies to exchange views with others in the market; “Don’t be shy”, one former BBG chairman noted, “of admitting their fundamental value as a networking opportunity”.
The 150 delegates who took part in the conference were certainly not shy in concluding that this first time event had provided a stimulating opportunity to look at UK-Indian business relations a year-on from the visit to India by David Cameron and six Cabinet Ministers. As the chair of one of the BBGs said the conference itself was another sign of an increased energy in the relationship since that visit. Judging from the mood of the delegates as they left there is every likelihood the first-ever BBG meet will become an important annual fixture.
(The First BBGs’ National Meet’s platinum sponsor was KPMG, and gold sponsorship was given by G4S, BP and HSBC. Other supporters included British Airways, Diageo and the Taj Group of hotels.)