The Department for Business & Trade (DBT) brought its UK-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Roadshow to Manchester yesterday, marking the final stop on a six-city UK tour.
Held at the Free Trade Hall (Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel), the event welcomed over 150 attendees for a series of presentations from DBT representatives and Jo Ahmed MBE, Co-Chair of the Manchester India Partnership.
Ahmed reinforced India’s importance to Greater Manchester, describing it as “a priority market” and highlighting how the FTA will build on strong existing foundations. She pointed to the opening of the Consulate General of India in Manchester as a clear signal of the city-region’s growing role in strengthening business and diplomatic ties between India and the North of England.
The scale and complexity of the Indian market was a central theme throughout the morning. Rajesh Chacko, Managing Director and Head of Sales at HSBC, emphasised that India should be viewed “as a continent rather than a country,” reflecting its size, diversity and varied regional approaches. While acknowledging the challenges of navigating such a complex ecosystem, the event aimed to demystify the opportunity and highlight the support available to UK businesses.
That support was underlined by Okkor Habibi (DBT), who outlined the extensive resources available to companies looking to enter or expand in the Indian market. Attendees also praised DBT’s strong presence in both the UK and India.
Relationship-building emerged as a defining theme across the session. Dr Nicholas Gribit (DBT) described India as “a relationship-led country,” while Jasdeep Jassal (DBT) reiterated the importance of “people to people relationships” as a cornerstone of doing business successfully in India.
With the FTA set to come into force on 15 July, the message was clear. As Danyal Suleman put it: “The opportunity is real” and it is here.