Indian Economic Development Association and Global Chamber along with the WTC Navi Mumbai organized India UK Global Business Forum at Goa on February 18, 2026. About 60 MSMEs, Start-ups and leading industrialists actively participated in this interesting and well-designed event.

Ms. Aarati Neemkar of IEDA and Global Chamber welcomed the participants and explained the theme and the need to organize this India UK GBF.She also mentioned that the theme has become relevant to major cities in India and she has received invitations from cities like Hyderabad, Bangalore etc to organize such Forum.

WTC Navi Mumbai was the Knowledge Partner for this Forum. During the inaugural session Mr. Jayant Ghate Advisor WTC Navi Mumbai presented the theme paper highlighting importance of India UK FTA and growth potential thereof. He explained the takeaways from FTA and how WTC Navi Mumbai and other WTCs can help the industry & business in trade development. Prior to the event, Mr. Ghate had requested the WTC Dublin to prepare a paper on how WTC Dublin can help Indian businesses in promotion of India’s trade and investment not only with UK but also with EU and with the world. Mr. Grant Ferris of the WTC Dublin duly submitted this paper in time. And Mr. Ghate was happy to share its key findings with the participants. 

Dr. Rajanya Ravasia of Adventum UK was the Chief Guest during the inaugural session. He explained the requirements of UK market and discussed the strategic approach towards reaching out and realizing its potential. He also explained importance of wealth management in this context.

Mr. Virendra Gupte WTC Navi Mumbai Faculty Expert gave the keynote address. He presented the key provisions of the FTA, current level of Indo UK trade and investment as well as growth opportunities both in goods and services sectors. He also gave some interesting examples of how FTA develops trade and investment.

Well-known Entrepreneur Padmashri Ms. Shashi Soni from Karnataka shared her Entrepreneurial Journey with the participants. She encouraged and inspired the participants by her experiences and determination to succeed in adverse environments.

The Forum also had two more interesting related panel discussions on Women Empowerment in Business and Crossborder Expansion & Market Entry in which experts and practitioners shared their thoughts and  insights with participants. Further, Mr. Leenesh Singh and Mr. Jitendra Sakpal for StartupXChange presented the opportunities for Indo-UK Business Development.