Jun 11, 2021

BEI Weekly Update — 11th June 2021

Dear Members and Friends,

With the first week of our Annual ‘Meet The Ambassador’ series now coming to a close, I wanted to reflect on a few over-arching observations. Firstly, I have been struck by the breadth and diversity of opportunity in multiple markets, largely triggered by the combined impacts of the Pandemic and the challenges of Climate Change. Whether it is supporting and enhancing national infrastructure, transitioning to renewable energy sources, recovering lost learning or protecting the most vulnerable, it is clear that there are multiple opportunities in every market that match well to the expertise that exists in the UK. Secondly, a recognition that there remain enduring challenges — access to finance, ease of doing business, transparency — but that these are being tackled proactively. Finally, an opportunity we all share to articulate and showcase the UK’s expertise across all these opportunity areas. At BEI we will continue to work with our members to bring this articulation to life, as we believe it will be an important enabler of long-term UK export success.

Our ‘Meet the Ambassadors’ series this week covered four regions: Central Asia and South Caucasus, Francophone Africa, East Africa and South East Europe.

Each of the sessions covered so much ground that even if I wrote ‘brief’ highlights, this would be the longest ever weekly report; instead, recordings of the sessions are available here for our members, and if you wanted to get a precis of the main messages, please let Ingrid know directly.

I wanted to thank all the British Ambassadors, High Commissioners and their representatives that have already given their time and their insights in the last week, and also the members and guests who have contributed so actively and positively in the discussions.

Next week, the programme continues, with a full programme, as follows:

15th June — Middle East; West Africa; Latin America

16th June — South Asia; Southern Africa

17th June — ‘South-East Asia, North Africa, The Caribbean

To register for any of these events, please click directly on the links above, where you will find the details and booking instructions.

Earlier this week, and outside our ‘Meet The Ambassador’ series, we hosted an event on ‘Doing Business in Pakistan’, in collaboration with the Pakistan Britain Business Council, Pakistan High Commission London, the British Deputy High Commission Karachi and the KPK Board of Investment and Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP). Our Senior Infrastructure Adviser, Campbell Keir, spoke about opportunities and challenges for businesses operating in emerging and developing countries post-covid and what UK businesses can offer these high growth markets. Campbell identified three key areas: supply chains, healthcare, and education as offering investment opportunities for UK businesses in the recovery from Covid-19. He also emphasised the high demand for infrastructure investment in all economies but especially developing economies like Pakistan, and that while private funding is available investors require projects to conform to global sustainability targets which can be challenging.

As Global Leaders have gathered in Cornwall for the G7 Conference, I wanted to recommend to you this report from our sister company, the British Foreign Policy Group (BFPG). ‘The 2021 G7 Summit: The UK’s Objectives and Prospects for Success’ identifies the UK’s primary objectives for the Summit, assesses their feasibility, and potential obstacles to achieving them. We certainly look forward to the conclusion of the event and associated headlines. You can access a copy here.

After a mostly sunny week here in London, I and the team will use the weekend to recharge our batteries before another busy, but very exciting week ahead as we continue with the Ambassadors Series.

With Best Wishes
Derrick

Derrick Sanyahumbi
Chief Executive Officer
British Expertise International

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Don’t forget…

See our full events programme here, and to enquire about becoming a member of BEI, register your interest here.

Join our Working Groups — as part of our member focus, the working groups offer opportunities for peer-to-peer engagement, learning & sharing, profiling expertise & capabilities and highlighting thought leadership. Groups include Climate Change, Education, infrastructure, D&I, and we also support a Safeguarding Leads Network. For details contact Joe McLynn

Join our LinkedIn Group and keep up with our news and our upcoming events highlights. Members can also post and share latest news and thought leadership. Join the group here.

Recruitment Board
Take advantage of the new Job Board on our website to post your organisation’s vacancies, currently this facility is available for free.

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Upcoming Events

Currently all our events are hosted virtually and look forward to exploring hybrid event options as the government eases socialising restrictions. For any event registration support please contact the events team. Click on titles to access full event details. The full calendar of events can be viewed here and recently added event dates are highlighted with an asterisk*.

15th June — ‘Meet the British Ambassadors’ Middle East

15th June — ‘Meet the British Ambassadors’ West Africa

15th June — ‘Meet the British Ambassadors’ Latin America

16th June — ‘Meet the British Ambassadors’ South Asia

16th June — ‘Meet the British Ambassadors’ Southern Africa

17th June — ‘Meet the British Ambassadors’ South-East Asia

17th June — ‘Meet the British Ambassadors’ North Africa

17th June — ‘Meet the British Ambassadors’ The Caribbean

22nd June — Closed Roundtable Discussion with Trade Envoy Mark Menzies MP

23rd June* — Closed Roundtable Discussion with Trade Envoy Richard Graham MP

24th June — Closed Roundtable Discussion with Trade Envoy Mark Menzies MP

20th July* — Brazil Deep Dive

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External News & Events

13th July — The Saudi-British Joint Business Council is hosting a UK/Saudi Sustainable Investment Forum at Mansion House in London with investors, government representatives and business leaders. Registration is now open, please follow this link to secure your place.

13th — 16th July — The UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology will deliver an interactive online course on Spatial Analysis in QGIS and R — An Introduction for Environmental Scientists.

Public Administration Services offers capacity development and training promoting good governance and good practice in delivering public services.