Examination of Witnesses (Questions 220-228)
UK TRADE & INVESTMENT
14 FEBRUARY 2006
Q220 Chairman: You would not dissent
from the view that it is a good thing to do, certainly.
Mr Ahmad: It is something on which
we are working on behalf of, if you like, the student community
and the business community.
Chairman: I will let Rob ask the questions
and then come back.
Q221 Rob Marris: I would like to
turn it round. When we are talking about this £10 million,
that, on a back of the envelope calculation, is going to add 1,000
students to the 18,000 students we get every year: very welcome
but it is 6%. What I think would come within your remit is what
UKTI is doing to assist those organisations which export educational
services to India—and I am thinking, particularly, in terms
of language training and so on, where we have companies, and there
is one in Cambridge—training tens of thousands of people
every year. That would seem to be more within your remit. Are
you doing anything to increase that export market?
Mr Ahmad: We most certainly are.
The figure that I have is that some 40 UK education companies
were assisted into the marketplace through the UKTI network over
the last three years, and 30 specifically commissioned research
projects were undertaken on behalf of that very sector.
Q222 Rob Marris: To explore the market
in India?
Mr Ahmad: Exactly.
Rob Marris: Thank you very much.
Chairman: I think this is an area we
will explore a little more with the British Council and others
as well. This Committee regards this as a very important area
where we could be doing a lot more. Although we did hear from
the businesses we met at the High Commission a couple of weeks
ago that one of the chief issues for Australia was the weather,
and I do not think we can change that!
Q223 Mr Clapham: My question relates
to climate change and some of the projects that are going on.
You referred earlier to the bio-diesel project. Is there any bio-fuel
project, whereby we are encouraging, for example, the burning
of crops with coal-generated electricity, or, should I say, in
the units that provide for generated electricity. Is Defra involved?
Are there British companies involved in these projects?
Mr Ahmad: I will have to answer
that question in rather more general terms because I do not have
any information on that very specific example that you have cited.
Defra certainly has a very active engagement programme with India.
The Secretary of State, Margaret Beckett, has visited India and
will continue to do so, because India is regarded as a very key
player in the whole debate on climate change. We have seen a number
of UK consultants and consultancy firms engaged in this whole
area of environmental impact and environmental protection as a
commercial offering. That is certainly alive and well. In this
context I should also mention the Office of Science and Technology
who are key partners with India, again, part of that whole panoply
of strategic initiatives we have on India. That is also something
that addresses, if you like, the subject matter you raised.
Q224 Chairman: To both China and
India environmental exports are a big opportunity, are they not,
for this country?
Mr Ahmad: Very much so, yes.
Q225 Chairman: We are virtually at
an end now, you will be pleased to hear, I am sure. Go into relaxed
mode now, for the last couple of questions, and just tell me:
in Britain do you think perceptions of India are accurate? Do
we see India more as a source just of people who steal our jobs
from call centres, which you and I know is a tiny part of the
Indian economy. Do we have an accurate view of India?
Mr Ahmad: Those who have dealt
with India, who know India well and who have engaged regularly
with India, will have seen the transformation. What never ceases
to surprise me is the dynamism of what is happening in India;
perhaps not at the same visible pace as in China, but it is happening.
One sees that in the way of people's lifestyles and the whole
travel pattern and the way that has changed, with, for example,
the recent air services agreement. I think that is something that
is missed by British industry or firms who are not regular engagers
in the marketplace. But I think it would be true to say, if one
looked at the SME market, for example, that their preoccupation
has been with what I would call the near markets and easier markets
in Europe and North America, and, increasingly, we see a need
to fill that knowledge gap by doing the sorts of things we have
been doing on information on India.
Q226 Chairman: We have a gentle complaint
from the people who are over on the JETCO visit, saying, "When
we come here, we never meet chief executives. We always meet consultants
and advisers, we never meet the top people. Why do they not want
to meet us?" Do you think that reflects a lack of interest
or do you think the huge success you get for your outward missions
to India suggests that CEOs are fully engaged?
Mr Ahmad: I think it depends on
what expectations people come with to the UK for some of these
visits. The delegation that went with the Prime Minister to India
was straight off the A-list. The board membership of the IBPN
has a healthy smattering of very recognisable larger companies.
It really does vary from one sector to another. It is highly unlikely
that in what is sometimes a very short window of opportunity there
will be parallel level exchanges, particularly on seminar panels.
I think this is where the difficulty arises: if there is a particular
discussion forum, the expectation sometimes from high level Indian
visitors is that there will be an equivalent chief executive sitting
on the other side of the table, when it is more likely that UK
plcs put forward their country expert. But, where a one-to-one
meeting is sought, it is very unusual for that requirement not
to be met.
Q227 Chairman: One last question
from me—and I always like asking people this. We are off
to India in a week's time and we are meeting a lot of people in
the Government and the commercial organisations there. What is
the one message you would like us to take?
Mr Ahmad: To continue the pace
of reform and liberalisation, recognising that there is a political
environment that they have to manage. Therein lies, if you like,
India's fulfilment of a promise that it itself has and external
commentators have said is their potential.
Q228 Chairman: What one wish would
you have about your own organisation?
Mr Ahmad: If I could change what
I do, I would like to be able to have a bigger delivery capability
to the mid-sized corporate marketplace in the UK. We have a very
well developed SME service delivery offering. The big companies
know how to use us very effectively. There is a gap which we are
beginning to address now with some thinking and money, but it
probably needs more than my exhortation.
Chairman: Thank you very much indeed.
We are very grateful.
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