Excerpts of the Speech by Mr Scott Furssedonn-Wood, British Deputy High Commissioner in Kolkata, at the Session on ‘Connecting Indian companies to the digital economy in the UK’ at the NASSCOM Product Enclave, Kolkata
18 July 2014
Good morning ladies and gentlemen.
I would like to congratulate NASSCOM’s regional chapter for bringing the Product Conclave to this city. There are some excellent, highly-innovative companies in this region – many of whom I had the pleasure of meeting last night – and they deserve this exposure for their aspirations. The city of Kolkata and the Eastern region matters to the United Kingdom. Our connections to this part of India are, of course, deep-rooted and historic. But they remain fresh, vibrant and forward-looking. We want a relationship with Kolkata and the Eastern region that is dynamic, and which builds on our shared experience to shape our shared future. I am therefore delighted that the United Kingdom is the partner country for the NASSCOM Product Conclave Kolkata – 2014.
The world of business used to be shaped by the big players. Companies who had been on the scene for a generation or more and had built their scale and greatness over time. The tech revolution has changed all that. Now companies can achieve that scale and greatness in a breathtakingly short timeframe. Companies that started in people’s garages and bedrooms one year have become global names the next. Many have generated extraordinary value from the ideas and innovations of a very small group of talented individuals.
Many start-ups are born with global aspirations. Others realize very quickly that they need to go global if they are to realize their potential. That is why we, the UK government, are here today. To encourage companies from this region to take their ideas beyond India’s shores, to encourage them to globalize and to do so through the UK’s exciting digital economy.
This is a world on fast forward, a world of permanent technological revolution. That’s how the UK tech scene is today. Dynamic. Relentlessly ambitious. Leading the way.
They are important initiatives happening in the tech space in the UK at this moment. I would like to mention two exciting new areas:
The first is our work on the Internet of Things.
These are developments that could allow literally billions of everyday objects to talk to each other over the internet – using low-cost, low-power chips. And this has enormous potential to change our lives.
Electricity meters that talk to the grid to get consumers the best deals. Health monitors that keep an eye on your heart rate. Water pipes that warn of a fall in pressure. And yes, even a fridge that can order you milk when it notices you are getting low.
The Internet of Things is – and will increasingly be – a huge transformative development, a way of boosting productivity, of keeping us healthier, making transport more efficient, reducing energy needs, and tackling climate change.
The second important initiative is 5G.
A new research collaboration focused on the industrial and societal impacts which 5G will bring has been announced between the University of Dresden, King’s College University in London and the University of Surrey. With 4G, an 800 megabyte movie takes around 40 seconds to download; with 5G that would be cut to 1 second.
The UK’s digital drive was articulated by the British Prime Minister David Cameron when he said:
‘It is our ambition to make the UK the most digital nation in the G8 and it is my mission to show the world that we’re getting there.’
Now, the UK is nation of innovation. Those of you who were here last night will have heard me list some of the GREAT British innovations of which we are rightly proud.
But we know that we cannot achieve our digital ambition alone. In fact we know that the level of ambition we have is not something that could ever be achieved by one country, one people. We need the very best, the most innovative ideas from across the globe. That’s why in the United Kingdom we have rolled out the red carpet to the world’s ideas people.
Come over to Shoreditch in east London and you can see it – Tech City, our leading tech cluster, is teeming with start-ups and new ideas. It started less than 3 and a half years ago with 200 digital companies in a small area of east London – now there are 1,300.
Come over to Cambridge or Edinburgh or Oxford and you find clusters of tech companies who are changing the way we live now.
The UK’s innovation and tech sector is worth £58 billion and employs 1.3 million people. To grow the sector further the government has launched a new commercially focused science and innovation organisation, the UKTI Innovation Gateway. The organisation will be a ‘one-stop-shop’ for securing science and innovation investment from large international funds and corporate companies. Over the next 2 years the organisation is tasked with unlocking £1 billion of investment and creating 500 new UK jobs.
The UK is the number 1 destination for inward investment (FDI) in Europe. International companies look to locate in the UK for the following reasons:
•access new or existing customers more easily
•develop new products
•find new suppliers and partners
•do more business in other countries across Europe
Businesses can take advantage of different grants and tax allowances in the UK. The UK government is lowering the rate of corporation tax to 20% in 2015. It will be the joint lowest in the G20. The current rate of corporation tax is 21%.
Tax credits are available for companies investing in R&D. This means that companies pay a lower rate of corporation tax. Companies are normally entitled to a 100% deduction of corporation tax on work related to R&D.
In addition:
•large companies are entitled to a further deduction from their taxable income which is 30% of their current spending on qualifying R&D
•SMEs are entitled to a further deduction from their taxable income of 125% of their current spending on qualifying R&D
Further there are Enterprise zones across different locations in the UK that offer investors incentives to locate themselves there. Incentives include:
•reduced taxes
•simpler planning rules
•financial benefits
Many Enterprise Zones have employment clusters, where businesses from the same sector are located in the same zones.
I am an Eastern India optimist. In the last nine months I’ve travelled extensively across the states in the region. I have been particularly struck by the human resource capital with which the Eastern region of India has been abundantly blessed. The potential here is huge. Connecting it more and more to the UK digital economy can help that potential be realised.
You can get connected to the digital economy in the UK through UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), the commercial wing of the British High Commission network in India.
UKTI can help companies from the region looking to locate or invest in the UK by offering a number of free services. Help includes:
•identifying market opportunities in the UK and Europe
•providing access and introductions to the right people
•setting up in the UK
•market research
•selecting the best location
•tax advice
•ongoing government support after establishing yourself in UK
•applying for visas and entry to the UK
•finding staff
•support for entrepreneurs
My colleagues from UKTI are around the hall today and you would find them at the UK stand in the exhibition area as well. They would be happy to support your global journey to the UK.
There’s also a UK based immigration law firm, A D Themis, who are with us today. Regional companies who need professional advice on UK visas and immigration can make the most of their presence in the city. And keep in touch with us. We have lots more events planned to help connect entrepreneurs from the Eastern Region to the opportunities that exist in the UK.
Ladies and gentlemen, we live in a very exciting period where technological advances are transforming the way we live. None of us know the end destination. But some of you here may play a role in determining that destination and in blazing the trail that will take us there.
Thank you and I wish today’s conference all success.
END OF SPEECH GIVEN ON 18 JULY 2014