Britain’s Minister of State for Trade & Investment Francis Maude has announced an agreement with India which will strengthen commercial ties between India and the UK.

India and Britain will collaborate to create a ‘FinTech bridge’ between the two countries. Led by Alok Vajpeyi and Britain’s Startupbootcamp, it will encourage close partnership and investments in Britain and Indian FinTech companies, and help them expand globally.

Britain and India have always had strong business links; in 2014-15 India emerged as Britain’s third biggest job creator, creating 7,730 new jobs. Opportunity for investment in India is blossoming, with its economic growth rate at 6.4 percent – well above the global rate of 3 percent. Many UK firms in this sector are already well established in India, including Standard Chartered and HSBC.

In the announcement, made to over 200 students at the IIT Bombay, Francis Maude said:

“Our Government is committed to an enhanced partnership with India. I will be meeting Indian Government and business leaders to discuss how we can support Indian PM Modi’s aspirations for India’s economy.

“It will encourage close collaboration and investment in UK and Indian Fintech companies and help them expand globally. Whether their focus is financial inclusion or access to lending, Fintech companies are creating global solutions.”

The initiative will be called ‘FinTech20 India’, in close partnership with FinTechCity of the UK, and will search for the twenty best FinTech innovators in India. Companies will be selected by a panel of experts from the UK and India and will be promoted in the FinTech50 2016 when it is released to a world-wide audience next year.

Prime Minister Modi, whose goal is to elevate India’s status globally as a country for investment, has described India’s engagement with the UK as an “unbeatable combination”.

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