The UK-Kerala Business Meet was the first event of its kind to connect the government of Kerala, UK government agencies, and businesses to enable collaboration on infrastructure, waste management, education, housing and energy projects in Kerala. Over 100 delegates including UK and Kerala politicians and business leaders attended. Areas for potential partnership identified were education, IT, infrastructure, waste management, health, and energy. The forum aims to facilitate further business and investment between the UK and Kerala.

1. UK Kerala Business Meet
POST MEET REPORT
Thursday, November 24th
, 2011
House of Parliament, Westminster, London, UK

2. The UK-Kerala Business Meet was the first of its kind in the UK for Kerala, involving the
government of Kerala, UK government agencies and business organisations in the UK and
Kerala. This special event was to enable Kerala to utilise British expertise and its world-class
technology for the infrastructure, Waste management, Education, Low cost housing in urban
and Villages, Power & Energy and IT projects coming up in Kerala.
The event was chaired by Mr.Virendra Sharma MP who is the Chairperson of UK-Kerala
Business Forum and was supported by the Indian High Commission in London, Dy. High
Commission in Chennai and UK Trade and Industry (UKTI), UK-India Business Council
(UKIBC) and Kerala Chamber of Commerce and Industry
The “UK Kerala Business Meet” was held at House of Parliament, London and hosted by
the UK Kerala Business Forum. The event brought together British Government,
Government of Kerala, Infrastructure Companies and Funding Agencies.
Mr.Virendra Sharma MP, the Chair of UK Kerala Business forum, gave a brief account of his
visit to Kerala last summer and informed the delegates about the opportunities India and
Kerala could provide over the coming years.
THE MEET
THE BUSINESS MEET PROGRAMME SUMMARY
Kerala’s Labour minister Mr. Shibu Baby John spoke
about his plans to change Kerala govt’s ITI
(Industrial Training Institute) into an international standard
by partnering with U.K’s Norfolk construction college in
providing certified training courses so as to bring
professional image to skills like plumbing, electrical work
etc and also to fill skill shortage in the emerging market.
He requested the delegates including the MPs from British
parliament to spread the word about the policies of the
Kerala government to make Kerala a labour friendly state.
Mr.Anto Anthony MP made a convincing case for
investments in education, health care, IT, infrastructure,
waste management and others. In the discussion that
followed, the British M.Ps raised a number of questions,
including communism in Kerala, the caste system and
tourism potential. The Kerala delegation including Mr.
Shibu Baby John, Mr.Anto Anthony and Mr. Sreenivasan
gave convincing answers and the gathering agreed that
collaboration projects should be initiated immediately,
given the potential of Kerala and the keenness of the
British industry to diversify its presence in India.

3. The representatives of Middlesex University and Commonwealth Business School who were
present in the meeting have started the process of working with Kerala Government to
explore possibilities in the field of education. UKTI (UK Trade and Investment) will receive
a dozen proposals from the Kerala government so as to pass it on to British companies who
would be interested to take up projects in Kerala. UK Kerala Business forum has been asked
by the Kerala delegation to receive proposals from British companies and forward them to
Kerala government.
The success of the Business meet has provided the forum with renewed energy to work in the
following areas.
1. Work with the British government to bring business and investments from India to
UK
2. Work with state governments in India to bring Business and investments from U.K.
3. Arrange and liaison with companies to get their projects implemented and nurtured.
4. Promote business, culture and cuisines.
5. Attend to major problems faced by the immigrants from India who want to set up new
businesses in UK.
The UK Kerala Business Meet
was attended by more than 100
delegates who included MPs
from British Parliament,
Businessmen from Kerala,
Entrepreneurs and Executives
from UK companies and media
personnel
FEEDBACK STATISTICS In the afternoon session where the UK companies had the
opportunity to interact with Kerala delegation, the
following areas were identified for preparation of detailed
studies by the two sides: Education, ICT, Infrastructure,
Waste Management, Health, Power and Energy
This session was again chaired by Mr.Virendra Sharma.
Members of the Kerala delegation including Mr.Anto
Antony MP and Mr.T.P Sreenivasan, Vice-Chairman of
KSHEC made specific proposals for collaboration. These
proposals will be analysed by the concerned agencies in a
preliminary manner. Mr.Anto Antony MP was extremely
enthusiastic and gave strong leadership to the Kerala
delegation. His interaction at all levels helped the
deliberations.
All the UK businesses that were present at the meet were
invited to attend the Investment Forum which is being
planned in Kochi, India in 2012.
Four prominent people of Kerala origin were honoured in
the British Parliament by the UK Kerala Business Forum
including Mr.M.G.George Muthoot, Chairman of Muthoot
Group; Mr.Joy Alukkas, Chairman of Joy Alukkas Group;
Mr T Haridas, Managing Director of Kerala Group of
Restaurants and Mr.Rajiv Ouseph, UK’s No 1 Badminton
Singles player. The awards were presented by shadow
minister for Employment Mr Stephen Timms MP.
THE BUSINESS MEET: SAME DAY SUCCESS STORIES
FUTURE PLANS OF THE FORUM

4. www.keralabusinessforum.co.uk
Team
Important Disclaimer:
Important please note: This report is for guidance only and has been prepared in good faith to give a fair overall
view of the meet and is believed to be correct at the date of publication.
Copyright
All content in this document, including logos, text, images, graphics etc are protected by copyright and/or
design right owned by UK Kerala Business Forum unless identified as belonging to third parties.
UK Address
UK Kerala Business Forum
P.O. Box 215, Loughton,
Essex, IG10 3HY, United Kingdom
Tel : +44 (0)20 8502 1281
E : info@keralabusinessforum.co.uk
W : www.keralabusinessforum.co.uk
Philip Abraham
Director
philip@keralabusines
sforum.co.uk
+44(0)7886279688
B George
Executive Director
george@keralabusines
sforum.co.uk
+44(0)7501014670
Pius John
Executive Director
pius@keralabusinessf
orum.co.uk
+44(0)7956675186
Sujit Nair FRSA
Chief Coordinator
sujit@keralabusiness
forum.co.uk
+44(0)7939147416
Virendra Kumar Sharma MP
Chair
Member of Parliament
for Ealing Southall, UK