By Dipankar De Sarkar, IANS
London : Asian-owned firms here provide nearly 210,000 jobs for London’s economy, laying a foundation for rapidly-growing ties with India, says a report launched Tuesday by the Mayor of London.
The report, “Spotlight on Asian Business, Their contribution to London”, shows that in 2006 there were over 41,000 Asian-owned businesses in London, representing 13 percent of the capital’s businesses and providing nearly 210,000 jobs.
“Positioning London as a centre for investment and trade with India, and the other rapidly growing Asian economies, is key for the incomes and jobs of all Londoners. This is why I recently opened London offices in Delhi and Mumbai,” Mayor Ken Livingstone said while launching the report at an Asian business conference in the London City Hall.
The event was held in partnership with the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Asian Business Association.
Each job created by a foreign company in London creates an average of 115,000 pounds ($230,000) a year in wealth for London’s economy. India has the biggest number of inward investment projects into London than any country apart from the US.
Financial ties with the Indian sub-continent will become even more substantial in the future, the report says.
The Mayor also paid tributes to the contribution of British Asian businesses, saying the over 400,000 Londoners of Indian origin made it the largest ethnic minority community in the British capital.
Asian Business Association Chairman Tony Sarin said entrepreneurs at the conference will “discuss, debate and eventually decide on” the path the Asian business community will take in years to come.
He said the value of bilateral trade of goods and services between Britain and India in 2006 was 7.9 billion pounds ($16.2 billion), up 25 percent on the previous year, and this trend was set to continue.