WOLVO GOES FOR INDIAN TAKEAWAY

24-07-2007

While Birmingham has been looking to China for investment - most notably with the new owners of Londgbridge, Nanjing Automobile - Wolverhampton is going global by linking up with the Punjab.

City MP Pat McFadden will launch a major initiative in the Commons tomorrow, which sources are claiming is a “unique” link-up, in that it will span commerce, education and sport.

The existing offer to inward investors will be tailored to attract business in the Sikh-dominated Indian province, which as a result of migration, has many links with Wolvo.

It’s a little known fact that 60% of India’s overseas investment in Europe comes to the UK, and at a time when their economy is booming it makes sense to tap into as much of that potential as possible.

Beyond that, there will be co-operation through the education sector, with an online project linking schools around the subject of climate change, and a new Asian Futures centre at Wolverhampton University.

Wolves FC are also signing a friendship agreement with Punjabi team JCT, last year’s All-India premier League runners-up.

McFadden, who has taken a strong lead in brokering the deal, said: “Wolverhampton has a big Indian population which has been established in the city for decades.

“The city already enjoys very strong links with India and this project is about building on those in three key areas - trade, education and sport.

“The world is getting smaller and globalisation is a two way street with investment going in both directions. India is now in the top 3 investors in the UK by project number, along with the United States and Japan.

“We want to make the most of globalisation, not retreat from the challenges and opportunities it presents.”

Is this the right way to deal with globalisation? Positively, and accepting the challenges it brings? Or can it only end in tears for a country like Britain? Leave a comment on our Message Board.