The UK Government has launched Alive with Opportunity, a £1.5 million marketing campaign designed to build on the UK and India’s strong and enduring relationship, boost trade and investment, and promote the two nations’ powerful cultural links.
Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch launched the campaign on a three-day visit to India starting August 24 (Thursday). She first attended the G20 Trade Ministers Meeting in Jaipur before flying to New Delhi for a parallel business-focused Business 20 summit, plus meetings with India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Tata Chair Natarajan Chandrasekaran.
UK Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch said: “I’m delighted to be returning to India to support their G20 Presidency, further our trade talks and meet key business leaders. The UK and India have a thriving relationship and we both share an ambition to deepen our cultural and trading ties.
“India is the UK’s second biggest source of investment projects and I’m confident this new campaign will help boost interest in and demand for UK goods and services even further.”
As part of the UK’s ambitions to double trade with India by 2030, the campaign aims to stimulate interest and demand for UK goods and services and attract new Indian inward investment.
New Department for Business and Trade (DBT) data shows India is the UK’s 2nd largest source of investment projects, with 118 new projects in the last financial year creating 8,384 new jobs. More than 900 Indian businesses operate in the UK, and more than 600 UK businesses are finding success in India supporting more than half a million jobs across both countries.
The Alive with Opportunity campaign will celebrate business, trade, cultural and sporting links between the UK and India, taking advantage of major moments such as India’s hosting of the Cricket World Cup and the England-India test series starting in January.
Adverts promoting the UK will feature across billboards, in airports and across social media channels backed by a series of targeted trade missions, promotional events and marketing activations in both countries.
The campaign aims to bring to life the concept of the ‘living bridge’, a phrase popularised by Indian Prime Minister Modi to describe the relationship between the two countries based on a continuous exchange of people, ideas and culture.
British High Commissioner to India Alex Ellis said: “The UK-India bilateral trading relationship is already worth Rs. 3.5 lakh crores; there is high ambition on both sides to increase this significantly. From the comprehensive trade deal we are negotiating to the vibrant living bridge that spans education, culture, sports and much more besides. We are bringing our people even closer together to create prosperity and jobs for both countries; this is a partnership that is alive with opportunity.”
While at the G20, Secretary Badenoch will pitch for greater deployment of digital trade, which will cut red tape and make it easier for UK businesses of all sizes to buy and sell internationally.
In New Delhi, she will meet some of India’s major businesses across a range of sectors, including BP, HSBC, Vodafone, Rolls Royce and Confederation of Indian Industry on Friday. She will also hold a meeting with Tata Chair Natarajan Chandrasekaran, following their announcement last month of a new £4billion gigafactory in the UK.
Her visit coincides with Round 12 of talks for an ambitious and comprehensive trade deal with India. She will meet with her counterpart Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal to take stock of negotiations and agree how to progress a deal which could boost our bilateral trade, already worth £36 billion last year.