A delegation of six British professional qualification providers were in Ahmedabad recently, to scout through potential ties with the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City to offer skill development and training in financial services sector in the state. Mirroring the Indian government's recent 'Skill India' campaigns, the delegation interacted with several companies and broadened prospects where UK and Gujarat could collaborate as India's first financial support company.
Led by the UK Trade and Investment Team in India, the delegation included representatives of British financial services institutes, the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), The Institute and Faculty of Actuatries (IfoA), International Association of Book Keepers (IAB) and Accounting Professionals (IAAP), The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI), and the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII).
“The purpose of the mission is to interact with GIFT officials and maybe provide UK-Gujarat partnerships to create world class financial services training. As qualification and learning offered by these UK institutes are recognised by employers around the world, we want to work with Indian companies and collaborate with GIFT city in Gujarat by providing financial services skills training and development to its employees,” said Geoff Wain, British Deputy High Commissioner, Ahmedabad, addressing media persons in Ahmedabad.
County Head of CIMA, Debashish Biswas said, “Once the infrastructure is created at GIFT city then the right kind of firms will come, they will need skilled manpower which will be our contribution through an integrated need-based approach. Most of these institutes already have a presence in India with a total intake of 100,000 students at any given point of time. We are looking to partner with tuition partners and are looking at any segment of students in Gujarat who are looking at a UK qualification through short, medium and long duration programmes.”
They talked of wider trader and wider investment in the state, secure British exports to India and promote relations with companies. Wain said, “It is the start of a process and not the end. We look to provide better advise to the clients.” The delegation believed India to be their largest market of students and looked forward to raising the profile of financial services within the country and globally.
