SME Times News Bureau | 30 Jul, 2010
India and Britain will explore opportunities, including opening up of their markets through a free and fair trading regime, to boost two-way trade and investment.

"We discussed how to boost trade and investment in our economies, and reaffirmed our shared belief that open markets, operating through a free and fair trading regime, will be vital to sustaining future prosperity," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Chancellor of Exchequer George Osborne said Thursday.

The two also said that both countries would collaborate in the G20, Basel Committee on banking supervision and the Financial Stability Board for reforms in key areas of the financial sector in the coming months.

"We had a valuable discussion on the importance of reforming the global financial system to reduce crisis to the global economy going forward," Mukherjee and Osborne said in a joint statement.

Osborne and Mukherjee said further reform was required in international financial institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to improve their effectiveness and accountability.

"We welcome the recent reforms of the World Bank and are committed to play our part in delivering a comprehensive package of IMF quota and governance reforms at the G20 Summit in Seoul, this November."

The next round of bilateral dialogue will be held in London in 2011.