British trade minister to discuss Doha Round with Nirmala Sitharaman

MUMBAI: Ahead of the meeting with Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, British trade and investment minister Lord Francis Maude today said there is a need to find concrete solutions for the Doha Round of WTO talks.

"I think there is a need to find some concrete solutions on the Doha Round. It is at a multilateral level and we need to reach some agreement on it," Maude told PTI at the IIT Bombay.

Maude further said he will be discussing the same during his meeting with Sitharaman in New Delhi tomorrow.

Additionally, with a ministerial meeting coming up at Nairobi, there is a greater need for finding some solutions on the Doha round, he added.

Maude said Britain is eagerly looking forward to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit in November and at present officials from both sides are looking at broad range of issues which will be dealt with during the visit.

When asked about the perceptions around Modi, Maude said Britain continues to believe that the Modi government will undertake more reforms in the days ahead.

He specifically lauded the efforts of the government surrounding ease of doing business, opening the defence sector for more investments and willingness to pass the GST.

Maude today announced a new initiative in the financial technology space called "FinTech20 India".

"It will search for 20 fintech innovators in the country. Companies will be selected by a panel of experts from Britain and India and will be promoted in the FinTech50 2016 when it is released to a worldwide audience next year," he said, addressing students at one of the premier tech schools in the country.

"Britain and India are natural partners in research and innovation," he said, adding the money poured in for British-Indo joint research projects has increased to 150 million pounds now from 1 million pounds in 2008.