Friday, Apr 26, 2024 | Last Update : 06:10 PM IST
‘Engage Bengalis in UK to build trade ties with state, India’
British Deputy High Commissioner of Kolkata Bruce Buckneil stressed on human capital link between Bengal and Britain.
Kolkata: British Deputy High Commissioner of Kolkata Bruce Buckneil on Saturday called for engaging the Bengali diaspora in Britain to build business ties with the state and India. “The human capital link between Bengal and Britain remains very strong,” Mr Buckneil told reporters on the sidelines of a meet to address the potential of West Bengal to drive the country’s Act East Policy’. Bengal has fantastic assets and “I want to engage them more to build those (business) links,” Mr Buckneil said.
In Britain, there is a large Bengali diaspora which is unfortunately dispersed in the country. There are many Bengali doctors and lawyers there too, he said.
The meet was organised by British Deputy High Commission and powered by The Dialogue, a think tank dedicated to drive policy and governance reforms through public opinion. The British diplomat said there should just not be flow of human capital, but there should also be the flow of ideas and business in different countries.
He said in terms of destination for British investment in India, West Bengal occupied the fifth largest spot. “Business can’t be forced to come to your place, you have to make it attractive,” he said. Mr Buckneil said that technological change was “devastating all sorts of traditional business models”. When asked to elaborate his point, he said “AI (Artificial Intelligence) is coming and it will take away a lot of jobs. Automation has come to manufacturing.....That is the challenge we all will face.”
“Technology is not going to stop. We keep creating new technology and we got to work with it, people need to work with it,” he said.
Asked to comment on employment situation in Bengal in the new situation, he said “as a diplomat I won’t say much. All I can say to keep creating jobs you have to create right condition for business, you have to be business friendly, you have to keep regulations right.”
Mr Buckneil also talked about Bengal’s top notch performance in leather products.
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