Kolkata: Lord Swraj Paul, business Ambassador of Britain, on October 13 called upon Indian businessmen to capitalise the Goodwill and Respect, which the country enjoys in the United Kingdom to further enhance an already flourishing Indo-British trade.

"The UK-India relationship stands at an all time high and your business should make use of the goodwill and respect which India enjoys," Lord Swraj said while addressing members of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Young Leaders' Forum in Kolkata.

Lord Swraj, who heads the over Rs 25,000 crore London-based Caparo Group, said trade remains an important angle to business as is seen from the UK-India trade relationship, which has doubled in the last 10 years and is growing rapidly.

"There are countless opportunities in numerous sectors of industry", Lord Swraj, who has been specially designated by the government of UK to promote business and socio-economic exchanges with India, told the Young Leaders Forum.

The Indo-Britain trade now stands at 5 billion Pounds and is still flourishing with plans of doubling this figure in the next five years.

He also told the young businessmen of Kolkata that the responsibility of making this growth a reality lies in their hands as "the path is clear and the route well marked. The pendulum of growth is in your favour. Nobody can afford to stand still and I would encourage you all to work hard for your business ambitions."

Lord Swraj, who went to Britain in 1966 to establish the Caparo Group which went on to become a major business house in Britain, also had a word of advice for the young businessmen on how to win and develop a business.

Successful business today often relied on global reach as the communication boom over the last decade has changed the way business is conducted. However, "it has not changed the way business is won and developed," he said.

"Being available to your customer, being able to work closely with your supplier, having a feel for the market, all these are important and can rarely be achieved satisfactorily through satellite or fibre optic cable", Lord Swraj said.

Indian and British companies were aware of the fact and UK is now one of the largest cumulative investors in India, while there are over 450 Indian companies operating in the UK, most of them successfully.

Emphasising that business is fiercely competetive in today's world as there is constant drive to differentiate and add value, Lord Swraj said he was sure that the values with which many Indian businessmen are familiar can and will make their business activities competetive.

However, there is need to inculcate these values in the next generation of business leaders to take advantage of the blossoming UK and India relations. This, he said, can be done by Indian students going to study in the UK.

"By studying in the UK, the Indian students gain valuable international experience. They meet and work not only with British, but also European and other international students", he added.

Lord Paul said UK universities and colleges are more eager to welcome Indian talents to the best of courses and programmes and there is regular flow of Indian students to that country for studies.

More than 11,000 students go from India to UK each year and the figure is growing by 30 per cent every year. The business courses are by far the most popular but not the MBAs, he said.

He said that UK-India relationship today spans every facet of life, world affairs, business, culture and education.

There are over one million people of Indian origin in the UK who are successful in all walks of life and "the work of British citizens of Indian origin in the UK has done much to bring the two countries together", Lord Paul said.

Stressing that the achievements of those of Indian origin in the UK has signalled to all sections of the society that these are the people who rely on family values and hard work, he quoted British Home Secretary David Blunkett as saying at a recent Asian Achievers' Award that "Indians in Britain have broken through the glass ceiling by their enterprise, innovations and aspirations".

Lord Paul, who considers Kolkata as his second home, praised it as a "passionate place" which has recently met with success with Saurav Ganguly leading in cricket, East Bengal winning an international trophy and the film 'Chokher Bali' making waves at the international level.

PTI