By IANS,
London : In an attempt to facilitate investment from India to Britain’s Midlands region, a video conference will be held June 20 between business heads in Mumbai and investment facilitators in Leicester.
Law firm Nelsons and global banking institution HSBC will play host to the session on trade and investment, the Leicester Mercury reported.
The Midlands, which comprise East Midlands and West Midlands, is the hub of Indian enterprise in Britain. The most well known town of the region, Leicester, is called ‘Little India’ – not only because of the sizeable presence of Indian immigrants, but also the growing number of Indian businesses.
The video conference will be chaired by Helen Deas, head of the East Midlands India Business Bureau. The reason for bringing in the law firms and banks is to primarily address Indian investor concerns about British trade, finance and legal practices.
The Leicester Mercury quoted Andrew Shipley, a partner of Nelsons in Leicester, as saying: “We are providing a unique opportunity for local and Indian businesses to hear from experts from both sides of the globe on a wide range of subjects, from financing trade transactions and intellectual property issues to dispute resolution and cross-border debt collection.”
The East Midlands is one of the several agencies in the region trying to woo Indian companies to invest in the region. The British Midlands is another Britain-funded organisation, which is of late focussing on India. It has two regional development agencies – East Midlands Development Agency and Advantage West Midlands – who work together to offer support to all foreign businesses who are looking to invest in the region.
Their role is to offer businesses from India support in terms of infrastructure development, legal formalities and any other necessary help required for setting up their companies in the region. The British Midlands has even set up an office of its representative in Mumbai.