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Instagram.com/easterneyenews/ • www.easterneye.biz • April 11, 2025
INDIA’S finance minister, Nirmala Si
tharaman, highlighted the country’s
robust economic resilience during her
visit to London this week, stressing do
mestic demand as a significant attrac
tion for global investment in the face of
rising international trade tensions.
At an event hosted by the High Com-
mission of India in London on Tuesday
(8), Sitharaman offered a confident as-
sessment of India’s economic position
amid evolving global trade dynamics.
“The world has seen depressed growth
for over several years. Earlier, it was low
interest for long and now it’s going to be
low growth for long, and that’s not happy
news for anybody,” she said.
Her remarks were made during a ses-
sion titled ‘Opportunities and challenges
for India’s quest to become a developed
economy by 2047’.
Sitharaman said, “India has main-
tained its fastest-growing economy tag
continuously now for five years and we
still think that momentum may moderate
a bit, but it will still be India who will keep
that growth.”
The minister noted domestic con-
sumption patterns, and said growth was
“calibrated because of the consumption
which exists domestically. It is backed by
demand for global-standard goods and
that is why globalisation since the 1990s
has given India many opportunities.”
On trade relations with the US, Sithara-
man acknowledged potential challenges
but expressed optimism.
“The US is the leading trade partner for
India. So, at a time when trade is going to
be influenced by tariffs, measures which
the US government are taking, we still will
have to make sure that the strength India
has in domestic demand as a big magnet
– which can attract global supplies – must
be sustained and boosted,” she said.
Strong domestic demand in India
would continue to attract foreign direct
investment (FDI) and international man-
ufacturing interests, to satisfy the domes-
tic market and for India as an export hub,
the minister added.
Sitharaman positioned India as a key
driver of future growth, saying, “We think
India, and a few emerging markets, are
going to be the engines of growth. The
global depressed growth, if it has to pick up,
will have to be because of these engines.”
The Indian minister arrived in London
on Monday (7) evening on a six-day Euro-
pean tour that will also include a visit to
Austria. Her UK itinerary began with the
in-conversation session at the High Com-
mission in partnership with the London
School of Economics (LSE).
This is set to be followed by a 13th min-
isterial round of the India-UK Economic
and Financial Dialogue (EFD) with her
British counterpart, chancellor Rachel
Reeves, on Wednesday (9), after Eastern
Eye went to press on Tuesday.
The EFD represents a platform bet-
ween the two nations, facilitating engage-
ment through working groups and be-
tween respective regulatory bodies in the
financial sector. These include invest-
ment, financial services, financial regula-
tions, UPI interlinkages, taxation and il-
licit financial flows.
The key priorities for the Indian dele-
gation during the EFD include coopera-
tion in the IFSC GIFT City, investment
opportunities, insurance and pension
sectors, fintech and digital economy ini-
tiatives, and mobilising affordable and
sustainable climate finance.
During her visit, Sitharaman delivered
a keynote address at the India-UK Inves-
tor Roundtable. It was attended by CEOs
from global organisations and key figures
from across the UK financial sector, inclu-
ding pension funds, insurance firms,
banks and financial services institutions.
She also co-hosted a roundtable with
UK secretary of state for business and
trade, Jonathan Reynolds.
The event, organised in partnership
with the City of London Corporation,
brought together senior management
representatives from prominent pension
funds and asset managers in the UK.
The ongoing India-UK Free Trade
Agreement (FTA) negotiations featured
prominently during these discussions.
Following her engagements in the UK,
she will travel to Austria, where she is
scheduled to hold meetings with Austrian
finance minister Markus Marterbauer
and the chancellor, Christian Stocker.
Sitharaman and Wolfgang Hattmanns-
dorfer, the Austrian minister for econo-
my, energy and tourism, will co-chair a
session with key Austrian CEOs to apprise
them of existing and upcoming opportu-
nities in India, aimed at fostering deeper
investment collaboration between the
two countries.
‘Momentum may moderate, but
India’s growth rate will continue’
FINANCE MINISTER OPTIMISTIC ABOUT ECONOMY AS SHE BEGINS EUROPEAN TOUR IN LONDON
BANGLADESHI garment ex
porter Shahidullah Azim woke
up last Thursday (3) to the
shock of US president Donald
Trump slapping a 37 per cent
tariff on his country’s exports,
endangering an apparel hub al
ready reeling from domestic
political upheaval.
“We knew something was
coming, but we never expected
it to be this drastic ... This is
terrible for our business and
for thousands of workers,” said
Azim, whose clients include a
number of North American and
European retailers.
Suppliers in Bangladesh’s
garment industry, which counts
Gap and Vans parent VF Corp
as clients, said they began see
king government support hours
after Trump’s lightning bolt.
Some companies in the
country urged government of
ficials to negotiate further on
tariffs with the US in order to
prevent foreign buyers bolting
to save costs.
The readymade garments in
dustry is of existential impor
tance to Bangladesh’s econo
my. It accounts for more than
80 per cent of total export earn
ings, employing four million
people and contributing rough
ly 10 per cent to its annual GDP.
Trump’s global tariff barrage
deals the latest and heaviest
blow to the industry.
Last year, garment production
was disrupted by violent pro
tests that ousted prime minister
Sheikh Hasina in August, casting
doubt on the longterm poten
tial of a market much sought
after by Western fashion brands.
Azim said his company,
which employs 3,200 factory
workers, was bracing for order
cancellations as rising costs for
buyers could spell the end of
Bangladesh’s competitive edge.
A representative of the Ban
gladesh Knitwear Manufactur
ers and Exporters Association,
which supports more than
2,500 factories, said it ap
proached the government last
Thursday seeking support
against the tariff blow. Officials
said the issue was being consid
ered seriously.
Shafiqul Alam, the interim
government’s press secretary,
said in a statement the US was a
“close friend” and Bangladesh’s
largest export destination.
He said Dhaka has been
working with Washington on
trade matters, and expects
those discussions will “help ad
dress the tariff issue”.
Bangladesh’s loss could be
India’s gain, in some ways.
AnwarulAlam Chowdhury
of garment maker Evince fears
India, which had been getting
more queries from US suppli
ers since last year’s political
crisis in Bangladesh, will now
benefit even more as it faces a
lower tariff of 27 per cent.
“Bangladesh will be among
the hardest hit,” he said.
The Evince Group website
said it has Tommy Hilfiger and
Levi Strauss & Co as clients,
and deals in woven shirts, den
im and yarns.
While India contributes only
sixseven per cent of US garment
imports – far behind Bangla
desh and Vietnam – the top 30
US apparel brands indicated a
shift in preference towards In
dia from Bangladesh due to the
latter’s political crisis last year,
a survey by the US Fashion In
dustry Association showed.
Another major south Asian
casualty of Trump’s “reciprocal
tariff” move is Sri Lanka, which
now faces a 44 per cent tariff.
Around 40 per cent of Sri Lan
ka’s apparel exports are to the
US, which helped the island na
tion earn $1.9 billion (£1.48bn)
last year. Apparel is also Sri
Lanka’s secondlargest foreign
exchange earner, with the sec
tor employing 300,000 people.
Sri Lanka’s president Anura
Kumara Dissanayake’s office
said that a panel of government
officials and apparel compa
nies has been formed in order
to study “potential issues” that
could arise from the new tariffs.
“Sri Lanka could very quickly
see its share of US business move
to countries with lower tariffs,”
said Yohan Lawrence, secre
tary general of Sri Lanka’s Joint
Apparel Association Forum.
“This situation is serious,
and it must be addressed as a
matter of national urgency.”
Garment factories in Asia vie for export orders
© Munir Uz Zaman/
AFP via Getty Images
TARIFFS PLEA: Apparel factory
owners have called for talks with
the US to address the issue
TALKING TRADE: Nirmala Sitharaman with businessman
Vindi Banga, chair of UK Government Investments; Baroness
Shriti Vadera (above right); and Patricia Hewitt (below right)
All images © X/India’s
Ministry of Finance