Jan 14, 2022

BEI Weekly Update – 14th January 2022

Dear Members and Friends,

As the first full working week for many people, it has already been a very busy start for us at BEI. In addition to having the chance to catch up with a number of you, I also had a very productive meeting with Rodney Berkeley, Director for Energy and Infrastructure at the Department for International Trade (DIT). We discussed our mutual priorities and plans for the year ahead and agreed that we would continue to enhance our collaboration as we explore specific opportunities for promoting UK global opportunities in the infrastructure sectors. Members will be briefed in more detail.

I would also reflect that the New Year seems to have seen some positive movement in relation to development programme opportunities from the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). A few new opportunities are coming through the pipeline, however following the publication of the comprehensive Spending Review in the last quarter of last year we look forward to increased momentum and pipeline.

Our 2022 programme kicked off this week on Thursday 13th January when we hosted a presentation by DevelopmentAid on their ‘Smart Project Acquisition Tool’ — Tenderwell. The platform is designed to support BD project acquisition tracking and management. Head of business Development, Sergiu Casu gave an insightful presentation of how effective the Tenderwell tool can be, especially at a time when companies are looking to broaden their client base.

Next week, we will be hosting two excellent sessions:

On Wednesday 19th January: Darren Welch, the FCDO Director of Global Health will share insights on FCDO’s global health priorities in an ever-changing world and growing global health challenges. It may also be of interest for members to read the FCDO Global Health Systems Strengthening Position Paper published in December 2021 ahead of the event.

On Thursday 20th January: we are hosting the Resilient Cities & Infrastructure: The Mexico Series, the first of a series of in-depth discussions on opportunities for UK companies in Mexico in collaboration with Department for International Trade (DIT) Mexico Team, which will provide BEI members with great insights on the latest climate-related opportunities.

The following week, I want to flag the following sessions to you:

On Tuesday 25th January: we will resume our Deep Dive Series with a focus on Armenia and presentations for British Ambassador to Armenia, HE John Gallagher. The Ambassador and his team will provide an overview of doing business in Armenia as well as identified sectors and areas of opportunity for UK companies in Armenia such as transport, business services, ICT, insurance and pension services.

On Wednesday 26th January: we have a webinar FCDO presentation on the Clean Green Initiative launched by the UK at COP26. Co-Directors for Economic Cooperation & Growth at FCDO Caroline Read & Nicola Webb, will share detailed insights on the initiative around the development of enhanced green technology in support of sustainable economic growth.

On Thursday 27th January: we will be hosting our annual Doing Business with the European Bank for reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Join us to hear more about navigating the procurement processes and sectors of focus.

And finally, we have rescheduled the lunch with Louis Taylor, the CEO of UK Export Finance to February 10th. This is a ‘members only’ event with limited spaces, please register your interest to attend early to secure a place.

For full details on all upcoming events visit our website here

Finally, I hope you have settled back into work successfully and look forward to a return to more relaxed Covid-19 restrictions providing opportunities for us to meet face-to-face more easily. I wish you all an enjoyable and relaxing weekend

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 most of our events are hosted virtually and we are starting to explore face to face and 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*.

19th January — The FCDO & Global Health Priorities

20th January — Resilient Cities & Infrastructure: The Mexico Series

25th January — Armenia Deep Dive

26th January — FCDO — Clean Green Initiative

27th January — Doing Business & Opportunities with the EBRD

8th February — Meet the Trade Envoy for Mongolia Daniel Kawczynski MP

9th February — The Business Case for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

10th February — Lunch with Louis Taylor, CEO of UK Export Finance

15th February* — Morocco Deep Dive

22nd February — Roundtable with Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to South Africa — Andrew Selous MP

23rd February — Opportunities for UK Companies in Nigeria

23rd March — Meet the Trade Commissioner for South Asia, Alan Gemmell

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External News & Events

20th January — Africa Investment Conference 2022 — making the case for a strengthened, closer collaboration and partnership between the UK and Africa, showcasing emerging opportunities across the continent and UK capability and expertise. Apply to participate here.

21st — 25th February — The UK/SG Innovation Partnership Series — Smart Cities, Green Tech, and Circular Economy- DIT in collaboration with the UK Science and Innovation Network (SIN) and Tech Nation, will host a virtual trade mission to Singapore. Apply to participate here.

22nd –24th February — The Department of International Trade is taking a Smart Cities mission to Malaysia. If you would like to attend, please register here.

25th — 29th April — Spatial analysis in QGIS and R — An Introduction for Environmental Scientists. Running over four half-day sessions, this hands-on and interactive online course will give you an introduction to spatial data analysis in an open-source environment. For more information click here and to sign up and pay online click here.