UK Chancellor for exchequer Jeremy Hunt joins B'luru G20 meet

BENGALURU: UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt is in Bengaluru to attend the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting. This is his first overseas visit after becoming the Chancellor.

This trip is aimed to strengthen the already productive UK-India economic relationship and deepen ties to increase new investment and bring new jobs to the UK.

With its rich reputation for the cutting-edge tech industry, the Chancellor will be meeting Indian tech CEOs and founders in Bengaluru to explore investment opportunities and how links with India can help the UK become the world's next Silicon Valley.

The Chancellor will attend the G20 alongside the Governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey. The Chancellor's work at the G20 will also contribute to the UK Government's broader economic aims to halve inflation, grow the economy, and reduce the national debt.

Jeremy Hunt, Chancellor of the Exchequer, said: "I want the UK to be the world's next Silicon Valley - this is an ambition within reach thanks to our status as a global financial powerhouse and home to world-class universities and research institutions."

"We already have a USD 1 trillion tech industry, but we want to go further to create jobs and wealth across the UK. To help us get there, we need to deepen investment connections with like-minded countries around the world - starting with our Indian friends who are fast becoming an economic superpower in their own right," he said.

Alex Ellis, British High Commissioner to India, said: "The UK is working with India to solve the world's biggest challenges, through India's ambitious G20 Presidency.

As we work towards an ambitious free trade agreement to help double UK-India trade by 2030, it is great that the Chancellor can be here in Bengaluru, India's Silicon Valley." The G20 Finance Ministers meeting comes a year after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

On his visit, the Chancellor will reaffirm the UK's unwavering support for Ukraine and discuss with other G20 members ways to address issues such as elevated global inflationary pressures and the instability in energy and food prices that are being exacerbated by the war.

The first G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting under India's G20 Presidency is scheduled to be held during February 24-25. The meeting will be jointly chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das.