Hope India-UK FTA not far away, says incoming FICCI UK Council chair
trade agreement is hopefully not far on the horizon as it will offer immense opportunity to be leveraged within the bilateral partnership, said the new chair of a trade council that has played a key role in shaping the ongoing negotiations. UK-based tech professional Priya Guha, who invests in women-led innovation as Venture Partner of Merian Ventures, took over as chair of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) UK Council from Baroness Usha Prashar at a hand-over ceremony at the High Commission of India in London on Monday evening.
The India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations opened in January 2022 and are aimed at significantly enhancing bilateral trade — currently worth around GBP 38.1 billion a year.
The negotiations are now in their fourteenth round of talks, and likely to pick up pace following the Indian general election.
Guha, the British Indian investor, expressed the hope that the bilateral partnership would continue to flourish as she looks to build on the foundations laid by Prashar, who was the first to take on the role at FICCI UK four years ago.
«I take this on thinking about the role of research and innovation in the creative industries, the trade partnership and the opportunities that will be leveraged when we're able to have the FTA in place, which we all hope is not far away on the horizon,» said Guha.
«The reality is that these things only do happen because we are able to work in partnership with so many people as we transition into this new phase of the
