The Prime Minister will visit India this week to deepen our long-term partnership for peace and prosperity with a fellow leading democracy, in the face of global economic challenges and threats from autocratic states.

The visit will begin in Ahmedabad on Thursday [21st April] to meet with leading businesses and discuss the UK and India’s thriving commercial, trade and people links. This will be the first time a UK Prime Minister has visited Gujarat, India’s fifth largest state and the ancestral home of around half of the British-Indian population in the UK.

The Prime Minister will then travel to New Delhi to meet Prime Minister Modi on Friday [22nd April]. The leaders will hold in-depth talks on the UK and India’s strategic defence, diplomatic and economic partnership, aimed at bolstering our close partnership and stepping up security co-operation in the Indo-Pacific.

In Gujarat, the Prime Minister is expected to announce major investment in key industries in both the UK and India, boosting jobs and growth at home, as well as new collaboration on cutting-edge science, health and technology.

He will use the visit to drive progress in the Free Trade Agreement negotiations launched earlier this year – a deal with India is predicted to boost our total trade by up to £28 billion annually by 2035 and increase incomes across the UK by up to £3 billion.

Speaking ahead of the visit, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:

As we face threats to our peace and prosperity from autocratic states, it is vital that democracies and friends stick together. India, as a major economic power and the world’s largest democracy, is a highly valued strategic partner for the UK in these uncertain times.

My visit to India will deliver on the things that really matter to the people of both our nations – from job creation and economic growth, to energy security and defence.

Last year, the Prime Minister and Prime Minister Modi agreed a UK-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, announcing more than £530m in investment into the UK and committing to a deeper bilateral relationship across trade, health, climate, defence and security, and connecting our people.

India was identified as a priority relationship for the UK in the 2021 Integrated Review and was invited by the UK as a guest to last year’s G7 in Carbis Bay.

The UK is leveraging post-Brexit trade opportunities with India’s growing economy to drive down prices in key commodities for consumers, open opportunities for UK businesses in areas like green tech and services, and create high-wage, high-skill jobs.

Investment from Indian companies already supports 95,000 jobs across the UK, which is expected to be boosted by upcoming announcements and a future free trade deal.

• UK performers and labels praise benefits of the UK-New Zealand trade agreement.
• UK music producers and performers to make money from certain rights they own over an extra twenty years
• Builds on existing government support for UK’s creative industries, including the Music Export Growth Scheme, which received £330,000 in funding last year.

Six-months on from agreeing our ambitious new trade deal with New Zealand, the UK’s music industry praise the trade agreement as it will help to “support British music and artists and grow exciting opportunities for our thriving music industry.”

The UK-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement is set to benefit the entire music industry as the deal will give UK music producers and performers an extra twenty years to make money from certain rights they own, so British talent can reap the rewards of their hard work for longer in New Zealand. 

Top executives from Universal Music, Sony and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) have welcomed the extended protections given to the UK music industry. 

International Trade Secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, said: 

The UK and New Zealand are linked through shared culture, and the music scene is a glowing example of that.

This new trade agreement cuts red tape, creates new digital marketplaces and increases investment opportunities for both the UK and New Zealand.

It will be hugely welcome news to the thousands of businesses both big and small who are looking to grow and thrive by exporting internationally”. 

Instrument makers are also championing the deal as guitar manufacturer George Lowden who has created a new acoustic guitar range “Sheeran with Lowden” alongside Ed Sheeran, have seen significant growth in exports in New Zealand.

Lowden’s business has seen significant growth since the launch of the “Sheeran with Lowden” range with exports on the rise worldwide and 40 new jobs created in the UK in the past three years.

George Lowden, Chairman and Founder of Lowden Guitars says:

I have been so pleased to see our recent export growth to New Zealand in partnership with our local retailer. I applaud the efforts of government to support musicians and businesses such as ours to deliver world class creativity and quality to the global stage.

When I started building guitars nearly fifty years ago, at the forefront of my mind was the two hands of the player – that individual musician who would take my guitar in their hands and, very often, rely on that guitar for their livelihood. The guitar must be a dependable companion to them. The same principle is true in business, it is about building relationships with a reliable partner.

As a small business that has grown to work with musicians and other small businesses around the world, it is essential that we are reliable and can deliver the very best. This support of government enhances our capability to do this and sets the stage for further export growth, with creative collaboration which benefits everyone.

Other benefits of the trade deal to musicians and artists include:

1. A commitment from New Zealand to extend the term of copyright and rights in performances which will align New Zealand’s terms of protection with the UK’s.
2. New income stream for visual artists through a right to royalties when their works are re-sold in New Zealand.
3. A commitment to discuss adequate remuneration for producers and performers when their works are published for commercial purposes.

New Zealand was ranked as the third largest music streaming market for UK artists in 2020 with a 17% market share and the enhanced protections secured in this forward-looking trade agreement will strengthen this creative cultural relationship.  

  The enhanced protections follow a long history of British musical success in New Zealand; with The Beatles holding the country’s chart record for most ever number ones, Dire Straits ‘Brother in Arms’ album going 24 times Platinum, and recent BRIT award winner Dua Lipa touring her ‘future nostalgia’ album in New Zealand after the record topped the country’s weekly chart as soon as it was released.  

  New Zealand artists have historically enjoyed success in the UK too, with Auckland native Lorde achieving a range of UK music accolades including two BRIT awards for International Female Solo Artist in 2014 and 2018.

Geoff Taylor, Chief Executive BPI, BRIT Awards and Mercury Prize said:

The BPI welcomes improvements to IP and copyright in this deal which will help to support British music and artists and grow exporting opportunities for our thriving music industry.  

We are grateful to the Government for their dedication to promoting our world-leading IP standards and hope that this will continue to be a priority in further negotiations taking place around the world.”     

Nickie Owen, President, International Marketing, Universal Music UK said:

As well as music scenes that ‘punch far above our weight’, our countries share a deep passion for culture and the arts. These are two incredible music communities with some of the most talented artists, songwriters and composers you’ll find anywhere – let alone great and knowledgeable fans who adore artists of every genre, from the biggest superstars to newer artists.  

Building on a legacy of shared music, today British bands like Oxford’s Glass Animals and Kiwi stars like Lorde, both enjoy great success across the two countries. We welcome the promise of this agreement to connect the UK and New Zealand, and their artists and fans, even more closely through music.”      

Carina Grace, VP of UK International, Sony Music UK said:

Music exports are a driving force behind the UK’s international reputation as a cultural powerhouse, so Sony Music welcomes the new opportunities this deal will create to connect more artists and fans in New Zealand and Britain.” 

Background:  

• The UK-New Zealand trade agreement was signed in London on Monday 28 February by International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan and New Zealand Minister for Trade and Export Growth Damien O’Connor.
• The UK-New Zealand trade relationship was worth £2.3 billion in 2020. 
• The UK-New Zealand deal is expected to increase trade by almost 60%, boost the economy by £800 million and add £200 million to household wages in the long-run. 
• These new protections in music and arts follow continued Government support for the UK’s creative industries, which includes £330,000 worth of funding for the music industry via the Music Export Growth Scheme (MEGS) in joint partnership with DCMS and the International Showcase Fund (ISF), announced last September.
• With consultation and support from the Alliance for Intellectual Property and the UK’s world-leading music industry in the lead up to the deal, the UK government achieved agreement from New Zealand to extend the duration of protection for certain rights owned by UK music producers and performers in New Zealand.  This brings New Zealand into line with the UK’s terms of protection. 
• This means that UK music producers and performers who own certain rights in original works, performances, and sound recordings, will be able to make money for an additional twenty years when their work is used in New Zealand. Without this, they would have stopped receiving an important revenue stream sooner. This goes well beyond existing New Zealand copyright legislation and is a testament to the support this government is committed to providing the UK’s creative industries.
• Thanks to the new seventy-year term, beneficiaries of recording artists who have found success in New Zealand, including the likes of Ed Sheeran and Robbie Williams, could be entitled to claim royalties for longer.