By Dipankar De Sarkar, IANS
London : Indian businesses should head for London rather than New York because of the current financial crisis in the US, say business ‘ambassadors’ accompanying the mayor of London on an upcoming visit to woo India.
And the mayor himself wants more and more medium and small-size businesses to invest in London.
“Not just the huge corporations — in increasingly complex and diverse economies, you have to think of the small ones too,” Mayor Ken Livingstone said Tuesday. During his Nov 18-23 visit, the mayor will open two London-India offices in New Delhi and Mumbai.
“If you want to go global, London is your best one stop shop,” added Michael Charlton, chief executive of Think London — the city’s official foreign direct investment agency.
James Bidwell, chief executive officer of Visit London — the city’s tourist agency — said: “London is ideally positioned to service the European market. No longer do they need to go to New York to get the financial traction they are looking for. London is a much better market place to service their financial needs than New York.”
Charlton and Bidwell are in a large delegation of ‘London ambassadors’ that Livingstone is taking with him to India on a visit to promote ties between London and India in business, tourism, education and the creative industries.
India is the second largest investor in London after the US, accounting for 18 percent of all FDIs in 2005-06. As many as 27 companies incorporated in India are listed on the London Stock Exchange with a total market value of 4.4 billion pounds ($9 billion).
Alongside, Indian tourists have been showing their spending power. For the first time, in 2006, Indian tourists spent more than those from Japan — 152 million pounds by the Indians as against 134 million pounds by the Japanese.
The mayor is showcasing London as an open, free market-loving, multicultural city with well-established historical ties with India. He wants to prove that the British capital has a lot to offer India in terms of technological expertise and financial services.
“We were delighted by Tata’s takeover of Corus, unlike (French President Nicolas) Sarkozy,” Livingstone said referring to the French president’s controversial nationalistic objections during steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal’s takeover bid of Arcelor.
According to the mayor’s team, London is far more attractive than US cities as an investment destination because it has few of the regulations that characterise the investment scenario in the US.
But it is a two-way process with Livingstone lobbying with the British government to keep its borders open to migrant skilled workers from India, his advisers said.
Charlton said London was keen to attract investments from medium and small scale businesses and was ready to offer a whole range of services — from core financial advice to hand-holding — in order to ease their way to London.
“For medium size businesses, a global move is a big move because they do not necessarily have the management experience. It can be a big risk and a bit scary,” he said. But the risks needed to be weighed against the advantages of being in London, such as the return on investments in spite of higher headline costs and even expansion opportunities.
Charlton said he wanted to see businesses from secondary cities such as Pune, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh set up branches in London.
During his stay in India, Livingstone will be in New Delhi, Mumbai and Amritsar, where he will visit the Golden Temple and meet the Punjab chief minister.
He will sign city-to-city partnership and tourism agreements with Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit, attend an environmental conference alongside climate change scientist R.K. Pachauri and meet key Indian business houses and chambers, including Tata, ICICI Bank and the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII).
He will also host seminars to explore the potential for cooperation in stem cell research. And in Mumbai he will sign an agreement with the Film and Television Guild of India and host a showcase of London and Indian creative industries with special guest Amitabh Bachchan.