British Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will Attend G20 Finance Meet At Bengaluru

Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom, will arrive in Bengaluru on Thursday to attend the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting. He has a main mission of strengthening the economic ties between India and the United Kingdom.

Hunt will meet with his Indian counterpart, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, as well as senior corporate executives and IT CEOs of the country on his first international trip since taking over the U.K. Treasury. The meetings are intended to explore opportunities for collaboration.

According to his office, the purpose of the trip is to expand connections with a developing "economic superpower" and improve the existing fruitful economic links between India and the United Kingdom in order to spur further business and job growth in the UK.

On the eve of his tour to India, Hunt stated, "I want the U.K. 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 $1 trillion tech industry, but we want to go further to create jobs and wealth across the U.K. 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 added.

According to the Chancellor's office, he will meet with CEOs and founders of Indian tech companies in Bengaluru to discuss investment potential and how ties to India may help the UK become the new "Silicon Valley" of the world.

"India is projected to be the world's third-largest economy by 2050, with a tech industry that generated $227 billion in revenue in FY2022. It is already a significant economic partner for the U.K., and the Chancellor is seeking to promote greater collaboration between the two countries," Treasury stated.

This week marks the one-year anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine war, and the U.K. government has announced that the finance minister will use the G20 meetings to reaffirm the country's "unwavering support" for Ukraine and to discuss solutions with other members for problems like the conflict's aggravating effect on rising global inflationary pressures and unstable energy and food prices.

Hunt will attend a meeting of the G7 Finance Ministers when he is in town, as well Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey. That comes after the G7, the EU, and Australia recently agreed price caps on seaborne Russian oil products, which will take effect on February 5, 2023, under the Price Cap Coalition.

Diesel and gasoline, two high-value Russian exports, are capped at $100, while fuel oil and other lower-value goods are capped at $45. The U.K. claims that it stopped importing Russian oil and oil products last year.

According to the Treasury, the Chancellor's work at the G20 will also support the priorities of the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak-led government, which include growing the economy, creating better-paying jobs and opportunities across the nation, ensuring that the national debt declines so that the future of public services is secured, and halving inflation this year.