Alok Sharma, the Member of Parliament for Reading West, has been appointed as the Prime Minister’s Infrastructure Envoy to India. The Prime Minister has also appointed Lord Dolar Popat as his Trade Envoy to Uganda and Rwanda as part of the Government’s new drive to boost exports.
Alok took part in the 8th UK-India Economic and Financial Dialogue, led by UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne and Finance Minister of India Arun Jaitley, during which Alok’s new role was formally announced.
The Joint Statement by Chancellor Osborne and Minister Jaitley issued after the Dialogue noted the “beginning of a strategic partnership between India and the UK” on matters related to infrastructure.
In respect of Alok’s new role the Joint Statement noted: “Both sides welcomed the recent appointment of Alok Sharma MP as the British Prime Minister’s Infrastructure Envoy, to act as the key contact between our two governments, Indian public and private sector infrastructure companies and British financial practitioners.”
Following his appointment Alok said, “...The Indian government has a hugely ambitious programme of infrastructure projects and I look forward to working closely with colleagues in both governments to ensure that we develop rupee-linked debt markets and build closer ties between the UK and Indian capital markets. Ultimately, the aim is to facilitate capital-raising for Indian infrastructure projects in the London market.”
Lord Popat, who was born in Uganda before moving to the UK in 1971, will be overseeing the Government’s trade approach to both Rwanda and Uganda. Both nations boast strong economic growth, with Rwanda averaging GDP growth of 7.5% over the past five years and Uganda growing by 5% last year.
Speaking shortly after his appointment, Lord Popat said “it is a tremendous honour to be serving the country and the Prime Minister in this new and challenging role. My interests in the Lords have revolved around building stronger ties with Africa, supporting SMEs and increasing exports; this role allows me to do all three.
“Africa’s economic potential is very well documented and it’s important to remember that the continent has roughly the same population as India, yet we do twice as much trade with Africa. Whilst people regularly talk about India as a target market, we overlook Africa’s huge potential, and particularly fast-growing markets like Uganda and Rwanda.
“Whenever I’ve had the pleasure of visiting Africa I hear about the desire for more British goods, and I look forward to using my Swahili and business experience to deliver, both for Uganda and Rwanda and for Britain.”
As well as the appointments of Lords Popat and Lamont, David Cameron has also promoted ten other Trade Envoys. They include former Chancellor of the Exchequer Norman Lamont, who will serve as Envoy to Iran following the lifting of economic sanctions.
The new Trade Envoys will work in conjunction with the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and UKTI, as well as our Embassies and High Commissions across the globe. They will play a leading role in bringing together the Government’s approach to these nations.
