Apr 1, 2021

BEI Weekly Update — 1st April 2021

Dear Members and Friends,

With this shortened week, some pleasant weather and the beginning of the easing of ‘lockdown’, we held three events including two Working Group meetings and the third with an infrastructure focus.

As part of our continuing focus on linking members with opportunities and funding mechanisms, we heard from InfraCo Africa on the scale of infrastructure need in the region and its potential, as well as the material requirements for investment.

Our Education Working Group met to plan its approach for Spring/Summer, which will include a relaunch of its excellent report ‘Recover Learning, Rebuild Education’ together with a wide-ranging programme to create platforms for members to showcase the excellence of the solutions and approaches available from the UK to support a stronger and more sustainable rebuilding in Education systems globally.

Our Climate Change Working Group also met to discuss the key themes and areas of focus going forward. In addition, we heard from Andrew Whitten from the Department for International Trade (DIT), who gave an insight into how UK businesses can get involved with COP26 more directly. It will be important to create a showcase of British expertise in this critical field, and this is one of the areas the Working Group will focus on.

Membership to these Working Groups is restricted to BEI members only, please contact Joe for more details.

In April we will host a series of Deep Dives, starting with Ghana on Tuesday 13th April, where the UK High Commissioner and his team will provide a country overview and insights into opportunities for British exporters. On Thursday 15th April we will hear from the Deputy Head of Mission in Kazakhstan, Jonathan Layfield, and British Embassy colleagues on Kazakhstan’s politics, economic development and the wide range of opportunities the country has to offer British businesses — specifically, in Mining, Clean energy, Education, Healthcare, Financial & Professional Business Services and AgriTech.

Spring/Summer Programme

Whilst ‘Lockdown’ has been eased a little, our plan is to continue to deliver events virtually though until the end of summer, when we will review the situation once again. We have seen many benefits in conducting events virtually, not least the ability to reach a wider and more geographically dispersed audience.

Our Spring/Summer Programme will see more events, focusing on a wide range of topics driven by member interests. In particular we will be focusing on specific opportunities and countries/regions featuring a range of expert speakers — Prime Minister’s Trade Envoys, HMG Ambassadors and High Commissioners, DIT Trade Commissioners and London based diplomats from key markets. These speakers will cover all parts of the globe.

In Infrastructure, in addition to these regional opportunities, we will explore a range of issues — from Smart Cities to the importance of Cyber Security and Social Value when delivering projects.

In Development, we will focus on building effective relationships with the FCDO, communicating the value of Development-based initiatives to ‘Global Britain’ and exploring alternative funding opportunities.

In Climate Change, we will be exploring and developing the Government’s ambition, and building up our ability to showcase UK expertise in this critical area.

In Education — we will be expanding our footprint and reach to include key international stakeholders and create truly global platforms to promote British expertise.

Please visit the website here to get a flavour of some of the details, and we will be communicating further information about specific events that directly address member areas of interest in the coming fortnight.

I wish you all the very best for the long weekend, and hope that you will be able to connect with friends and family.

With Best Wishes
Derrick

Derrick Sanyahumbi
Chief Executive Officer
British Expertise International

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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 Matthew Gibbons. 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*.

8th April — Infrastructure Exports Working Group

13th April — Ghana Deep Dive

15th April — Kazakhstan Deep Dive

19th April — Diversity and Inclusion Working Group

20th April — Azerbaijan Deep Dive

22nd April — Kyrgyzstan Deep Dive

29th April* — Risk Mapping in the Middle East

6th May — In Conversation with Lord Deben

9th June — Doing Business in Pakistan

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External News & Events

Over the coming months, the Department for International Trade (DIT) will host a series of events on clean growth in partnership with overseas colleagues.

The British and Colombian Chamber of Commerce is hosting a series of monthly virtual meetings this year called ‘Meet the Buyers’ to build relationships between Latin American Buyers and UK exporters.

7th April — The Department for International Trade will host a Virtual Trade Mission aimed at showcasing opportunities within the Sports Sector in Qatar. Please register your interest by 29th March.

13th April — The Department for International Trade is hosting a webinar series on Catch the Train on the latest news from the sector and to further relationships between the European and UK rail markets.

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