British High Commissioner to India James Bevan has called upon the Kerala government to treat Britain as the first choice for partnership.

He also listed out the advantages of United Kingdom in many specialised areas – from raising capital investment to providing skilled manpower, and from innovation to education.

“Kerala is looking for investment and we are specialised in raising capital for investment. Kerala is looking for infrastructure support and urban planning and we do make roads and build towns across the world. Kerala is looking for manufacturing, we are the leaders in the sector’” he said.

There is a very close match between what Kerala is looking for and what Britain has and vice versa, Bevan said while addressing a country session as part of Emerging Kerala global meet here.

The High Commissioner said the biggest ever trade delegation from his country, representing all major sectors, is in Kerala to attend the summit and forge relations because of the state’s significance and prospects.

Foreseeing ambitious and strong bilateral ties with Kerala in the next five to 10 years, the British High Commissioner claimed that UK had everything that Kerala and India were looking for to boost the economy, and pitched his country as one of the finest destinations in the world to do business with and forge partnerships.

He also felt that both India and the UK face challenges of sustainable growth and increase in prosperity of the people, and called for forging a stronger partnership between both the countries.

> sajeevkumar.v@thehindu.co.in

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