The first India-Scotland Business Summit was organised by Scottish Enterprise’s international arm of Scottish Development International (SDI), the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Royal Edinburgh Tattoo on 24 August in Edinburgh.
The Summit aimed to strengthen business linkages between Indian and Scottish companies building on the current success in trade with India. Scottish exports to India were worth £242m in 2014, and tapping into particular potential in sectors such as BPO, education, IT, biotechnology and energy.
Over 50 Scottish companies attended a session to hear from senior Indian business representatives about the fast growing economy in India and the opportunities this presents, including a special address from HE Ranjan Mathai, High Commissioner of India to the UK.
“The India-Scotland Business Summit is being organised at an opportune time when the economies of both India and UK are witnessing high levels of growth and diversification; in the UK economy Scotland plays a very vital role. The Scottish economy’s strengths in the key sectors of Energy, Life Sciences, ICT, Education and Food and Drink provide immense prospects for collaboration with India under its “Make in India” flagship initiative,” said High Commissioner Mathai.
“Interaction between the Indian and Scottish companies during the Summit would help to build linkages across sectors, thereby strengthening the strong bilateral economic relationship between India and Scotland,” he added.
Shuchita Sonalika, Director-UK, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said, “Through the India-Scotland Business Summit, we aim to generate awareness among Scottish companies on doing business in India, particularly under the Make in India campaign. At the same time, the huge interest we are seeing from Indian companies to explore Scotland is also remarkable. Indian companies in the UK are enthusiastically looking at possibilities for expansion and collaborative opportunities in Scotland.”
Rooma Bussi, Country Director Scottish Development International, India said, “India is well on the way to becoming one of the world’s most important economies and one that we cannot afford to ignore. India has established a global position for itself, across a range of industries including IT, healthcare, pharmaceuticals and engineering to name just a few. These are areas in which Scotland excels as well, providing Scottish based companies with a host of opportunities across the Indian market. At the same time, there are sectors where India is looking for more technology, like the oil & gas or the clean tech industries. Oil & gas, clean teach and education are also key industries where Scotland offers world class expertise and a tremendous scope for innovation and collaboration for the mutual benefit of both countries.”
The CII organised a delegation of representatives from major Indian companies such as Air India, Rolta, State Bank of India, SBICAPS, Tata Group, Wipro and Zensar Technologies, who are interested in business expansion and collaborative opportunities in Scotland, to travel to Edinburgh. They held meetings with Scottish Development officials, participated at the business Summit and also attended The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo festival and reception.
