London Mayor coming to boost ties with Delhi

New Delhi : 17-11-2007.

NEW DELHI: From trade to tourism and education to entertainment, the Mayor of London is expected to take up a variety of issues to strengthen the ties with Delhi during his six-day visit to the country beginning Sunday.

Accompanied by a delegation of London “ambassadors”, Mayor Ken Livingstone will take part in a series of meetings, seminars and conferences on “London and India: Partners in Globalisation”.

On the Mayor’s agenda are signing a city-to-city partnership agreement with Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, inking an agreement in the tourism sector and hosting a showcase of London and Indian creative industries with superstar Amitabh Bachchan as the special guest.

The visit is part of the strategy to promote London as a pre-eminent global business centre to emerging markets. “India is a rising economic superpower. It has a growth rate of over 9 per cent a year, 1.2 billion people, and it already accounts for the second highest number of inward investment projects into London after the US. Last year, India was one of the three countries accounting for the majority of world economic growth,” Mr. Livingstone explained.

“The Indian community is already the largest minority ethnic community in London and its strength as the most globalised city is helped immensely by its Indian community -- there are 10,000 Indian-owned businesses in the Capital. Cultural interaction between India and London is strong and is going to increase even further,” he added.

Lord Sebastian Coe and Paul Deighton, Chairman and Chief Executive of the London 2012 Organising Committee; Peter Hendy, Commissioner for Transport for London; Michael Charlton, Chief Executive of Think London; James Bidwell, Chief Executive of Visit London; and Adrian Wootton, Chief Executive of Film London, will be part of the visiting delegation.

The “ambassadors” who will be part of this delegation comprise people from the fields of business, creative industries, sports, culture, tourism, education and science.

The delegation will meet heads of key Indian businesses including Tatas, ICICI Bank, BCCI and the CII, host education seminars exploring stem cell research and the implications of international flows of financial capital for India’s economy.

An agreement between Film London and the Film and Television Guild of India is also on the itinerary.

The Mayor will be visiting Amritsar to meet the Chief Minister of Punjab and open two offices -- the London India Office, one each in Delhi and Mumbai to promote trade, culture, business and tourism.

By Shamsheer (H)