Caroline Nokes
Main Page: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)(12 years, 9 months ago)
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Caroline Nokes (Romsey and Southampton North) (Con)
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Wimbledon (Stephen Hammond) on securing this important debate and on having led, in September, a parliamentary delegation to India, in which I was fortunate enough to participate. Coincidentally, our delegation went to India at exactly the same time as a delegation of members of the Solent India Business Network. India is a large country and we did not manage to meet up.
I want to draw attention to the work done since 2009 to foster business links and trade relations between small and medium-sized enterprises in the Solent region, which the Minister will be particularly pleased about and proud of, and British business groups in India.
The delegation attended a conference in Pune and a historic memorandum of understanding was signed between the British business network in the UK and the British business group in that part of India. The co-chairmen of the network are a local solicitor, Amarjit Singh, and the deputy vice-chancellor of Southampton university.
Paul Uppal
In reference to the discussion that we had about attracting the brightest and the best, Leeds university is taking a lead on this with a campus in Bhopal. That is one way to get service providers and students working together around the immigration problem.
Caroline Nokes
I thank my hon. Friend for those comments. Pune university has a staggering 650,000 undergraduates, which is an enormous number compared with Southampton university. However, that does not prevent the two institutions from working together to share business visions and fresh perspectives. My hon. Friend the Member for Cities of London and Westminster (Mark Field) mentioned that young people are the future, and that is exactly the sort of initiative and message that is being promoted in the Solent region.
I am conscious that my comments about Anglo-Indian trade relations will be exclusively positive because that is the experience of the members in my constituency.
Priti Patel
I am delighted to hear that the experience of my hon. Friend’s constituents has been positive, because, as we have heard during this debate, things have not always been perfect. Does she hold the view that when Dr Singh comes to visit this country later this year, it is incumbent on our Government to raise some of the barriers to doing business, particularly relating to corruption and the other issues that have been raised here today?
Caroline Nokes
My hon. Friend makes an important point. We cannot focus just on the positives, although they are there and they are important. We must ensure that some of these issues are resolved, preferably before the Prime Minister’s visit in the summer.
I hope that the initiative that we have seen in the Solent region is not the first, and that it is something that can be spread across the whole of the UK. I know that UKTI has been very positive in supporting that view and is looking forward to welcoming the delegation from Pune when it comes to Southampton later this year. In short, I regard our relations as wholly positive. I have kept my comments deliberately brief so that other Members can contribute. I hope that the links that we have established in the Solent region will go from strength to strength.