Jun 16, 2023

BEI Weekly Update — 16th June 2023

by

Peter O’Kane

by

Dear Members and Friends,

A somewhat shorter intro this week as the team, two busy working groups aside, has been immersed in delivering the Meet-the-Ambassador series. MTA’s so far are Cambodia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and as we go to press today a bumper group of Australia, Ukraine, UAE, VietNam, Japan and S. Korea. The pace continues over the next two weeks and the team will compile a final report in July surveying the whole series. If you want something more immediate - attend! Details below. Huge thanks, as ever, to the FCDO for its support. This week we are also delighted to share insights from our members Ricardo with key takeaways from a recent joint event with BEI on Road Freight Decarbonisation. Read their comments here.

Hardly a month goes by when we don’t mention output from our sister organisation, Strategy’s think-tank, The British Foreign Policy Group. Unsurprisingly, as BFPG in 2023 is looking closely at the Trade component of foreign policy. Its research on and recent reports into such areas supply chain resilience and data security are directly relevant to companies active internationally. The latest area, ‘Soft Power’, is equally important to members. How the UK brand is perceived, impacted by views on its values, standards and institutions is of real importance to companies trying to persuade international customers. The report of the Soft Power Group , co-convened by the British Council and BFPF can be read here (there is a short summary section as well).

Have a very enjoyable weekend.

Warm Regards

Peter O’Kane

Chairman

British Expertise International/Strategy International

Recordings of recent past events:

7th June 2023 - MTA: Costa Rica & Panama
8th June 2023 - MTA: Mongolia & Kyrgyzstan

Key events coming up include the following:

19th June 2023 09:00-10:00 BST: Meet The Ambassador: Indonesia - Join us virtually as we welcome Owen Jenkins CMG, His Majesty's Ambassador to Indonesia & Timor-Leste.
20th June 2023 12:00-13:00 BST: Meet The Ambassadors: Ghana & Nigeria - Join us virtually as we welcome Harriet Thompson, British High Commissioner to the Republic of Ghana and Richard Montgomery CMG, British High Commissioner to Nigeria.
22nd June 2023 10:20-11:20 BST: Meet The Ambassador: Algeria - Join us virtually as we welcome Sharon Wardle, Her Majesty's Ambassador to Algeria.
22nd June 2023 11:40-12:40 BST: Meet The Ambassador: Namibia - Join us virtually as we welcome Charles Moore, British High Commissioner to the Republic of Namibia.
23rd June 2023 15:00-16:00 BST: Meet The Ambassador: Guatemala & El Salvador - Join us as we welcome Nick Whittingham, His Majesty’s Ambassador to the Republic of Guatemala and David Lelliott, His Majesty's Ambassador to the Republic of El Salvador.
26th June 2023 10:20-11:20 BST: Meet The Ambassadors: South Africa & Botswana - Join us as we welcome Antony Phillipson & Sian Price, British High Commissioners to South Africa & Botswana.
27th June 2023 09:00-10:00 BST: Meet The Ambassadors: Philippines - Join us as we welcome Laure Beaufils, His Majesty's Ambassador to The Philippines & Palau.
4th July 2023 12:00-15:00 BST: Roundtable with Nick Dyer, Director General, Humanitarian and Development (in person)- Join us for an in-person roundtable with Nick Dyer, Director General, Humanitarian and Development. Nick will provide an overview of the UK’s International Development Strategy (IDS) and address the key priorities for the UK in delivering humanitarian aid.
6th July 2023 14:30-16:30 BST: Roundtable with Mark Eastwood, UK’s Trade Envoy to Pakistan - Join us for an in-person roundtable with Mark Eastwood, the United Kingdom’s Trade Envoy to Pakistan who will speak to the subject of Government-to-Government discussions between the UK and Pakistan on infrastructure, renewables, and education, and will provide members with an update on the current trade dialogue between the two countries.
11th July 2023 15:00-16:00 BST: Gender Equality & Social Inclusion Working Group - Join us for a meeting of the Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Working Group. The GESI Working Group has replaced the previous Girls’ Education Working Group following a need to engage on wider matters of equality and inclusion not just related to women and girls, but other marginalised members of society. Following the recent GESI report launch, the Working Group will look to engage with GESI across sectors of: Climate Change; Economic Empowerment; Education; Humanitarian; and Health.
11th July 2023 16:00-19:30 BST: Climate Change Working Group Networking Evening - Join us for an evening of thought-provoking conversations with leaders across UK industry in the climate space. Our keynote speaker will be Dr Iris Soler, Associate Director at Turner & Townsend, who will explore links between water with climate.
13th July 2023 11:00-13:00 BST: Green Skills: Equipping the Workforce for a Sustainable Future - Join British Expertise International for an in-person panel event on Green Skills in the Skills & Training Working Group. We will be joined by speakers from: Turner & Townsend, The Skills Network, and Climate Sense, who will be presenting on their organisation’s commitment to delivering against the green skills agenda.
27th July 2023 14:00-15:30 BST: UKEF and Global Britain -- Immediate and medium-term region and sector priorities - Join us Tuesday 20th June from 10:00-11:30 for a roundtable discussion with Tim Reid, the Chief Executive of UK Export Finance (UKEF), discussing ‘UKEF and Global Britain -- Immediate and medium-term region and sector priorities’. The discussion will include current challenges, such as the crisis in Ukraine as well focusing on medium-term priorities, such as U.K. expertise assisting energy transition.
27th July 2023 16:00-17:00 BST: BEI Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Working Group - Equity, Diversity and Inclusion is not bound by geographic borders, instead it is a global agenda. This Working Group supports member organisations in building and executing a consistent high impact approach to EDI, by providing a platform to share best practices and discuss challenges and barriers in a constructive but safe environment.

Register for an upcoming event →

External Events

20th-23rd June: Join the Africa Energy Forum - The Africa Energy Forum is a conference and exhibition for the continent’s most influential clean growth stakeholders. It aims to drive policies; promote innovation and stimulate deals that will position UK business ahead as Africa takes more steps towards sustainable energy. Please use the link above to register!
18th July: BDO Women Working in Development - BDO invites you to the re-launch of their Women Working in Development Network and our upcoming event in July. They will be holding a panel discussion focused on the use of KPIs and gender targets within donor programming. This relaunch event will be held in person in the BDO London office, but the panel session and Q&A will be recorded and shared following the event. Please use the link above to register!