Feb 24, 2023

BEI Weekly Update — 24th February 2023

by

Peter O’Kane

by

Dear Members and Friends,

An extremely busy week of events, full of insights, covering innovations in the Water sector, doing business in Saudi Arabia, infrastructure opportunities in Hong Kong and working with USAID. Reports here. And the calendar is equally busy going forwards.. Listings and links to register can be found immediately underneath my signature. In this week’s edition we profile new member M&C Saatchi World Services, in ‘Out & About’ there was an impressive FCDO Locarno Room reception celebrating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the U.K and Vietnam (see link for a report). Elsewhere, our sister company, The D Group held a joint event with Tech UK on the Space sector. It's a good example of a sector or theme whose importance reaches across both The D Group and BEI, with many of our members either developing advanced space systems or actively using satellite technology and data across a wide range of international markets.

I'm looking forward to a series of country visits across South Asia until mid March and whilst I'm away Luisa, Ingrid and Alexandra will start a rotation of editing the weekly newsletter, which we plan to continue going forward.

Warm regards,

Peter O’Kane

Chairman

British Expertise International/Strategy International

Recent recordings:

21st February 2023: Doing Business in Saudi Arabia - We heard about the Kingdom’s foreign investment environment, challenges operating in the market and how to navigate these, the fixed and recurring costs, as well as the legal and tax regulatory environments.
23rd February 2023: Donor Clinic: Working with U.S. Agency for International Development - We were joined by a team from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) who shared their tips and tricks on how to work with USAID as well as the challenges suppliers may encounter and how to overcome these.

Key events coming up include the following:

28th February 2023 16:00-19:00 GMT: Climate Change Working Group Networking Evening - Join us for an evening of thought-provoking conversation, potential new partnerships and the chance to meet with members of our Climate Change Working Group. After the success of our last Climate Change Networking evening, this is an event not to be missed!
7th March 2023 10:00-11:30 GMT: Market Opportunity Overview: Nepal - in partnership with the British Embassy. Nepal has demonstrated its commitment to increasing its renewable energy and to making its infrastructure more resilient and sustainable. It also presents significant opportunities in education and skills development.
15th March 2023 16:00-19:00 GMT: Girls Education Challenge: Lessons Learnt - In-person panel event on the Girls’ Education Challenge, a 12-year FCDO flagship programme. We will be joined by the FCDO Girls’ Education Team as well as the alliance partners including Cambridge Education Mott MacDonald, Social Development Direct, PwC, Nathan Associates, and Tetra Tech.
28th March 2023 10:00- 11:30 BST: Morocco Infrastructure Opportunities- The relationship between the UK and Morocco is entering a new era of positive relations following the UK-Morocco Association Agreement in 2022. Recent discussions have focused on renewed collaboration on trade, education, climate, clean energy and green growth, as well as the global implications of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on food and energy security.
30th March 2023 9:00-10:30 BST: Global Victoria: Education Opportunities - Global Victoria, the State Government of Victoria's trade facilitation agency will be joint by Invest Victoria, the State Government of Victoria's investment attraction authority in presenting a range of education opportunities in the State on K12, skills and training, and education technology.
6th April 2023 10:00-11:15 BST: Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon Education Deep Dive with DIT - Join us for a deep dive into the education opportunities in Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon as led by teams from the Department for International Trade and Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office. They will aim to provide us with an insight into the key education priorities for UK plc looking to do business in the three countries.
19th April 2023 16:00-18:30 BST: In conversation with Andrew Dunnett - In-person roundtable meeting with Andrew Dunnett, Group Director of ESG, Sustainable Business and Foundations at Vodafone. Andrew will lead a discussion on the importance of ESG and private sector’s role in implementing impactful ESG programmes.
27th April 2023 11:00-14:00 BST: Donor Clinic: Doing business with USAID, in partnership with Konektid International - In-person donor clinic workshop on Doing Business with USAID, in partnership with Konektid International. Mike Shanley, CEO of Konektid International will share best practice on growing your organisations’ work with USAID, funding opportunities and tips for navigating the procurement process, as well as changes to USAID funding following the New Partnerships Initiative and Biden Administration.

For an overview of our planned events for the early part of the year, you can see a useful infographic here: BEI Winter/Spring Events Programme 2023

Register for an upcoming event →

External Events

25th February – 5th March - “Sustainability & Education Immersion Week” In Panama. Providing the opportunity to visit and learn from government agencies, educational institutions and private sector to collectively collaborate in creating innovative instruments to boost student mobility, transnational education (TNE) (in the short- and medium-term) and Clean Growth (in the long-term).
UN International Procurement Seminar (UN IPS) on 7-8 March 2023 at the UN City in Copenhagen and the registration process. UNGM registration is required to participate in the UN IPS and request 1-2-1 meetings with UN Procurement officers. If your company is already registered on the UNGM, it is possible to already express an interest in participating on the link below (this expression is not a formal offer/acceptance). UN International Procurement Seminar, Copenhagen, 7-8 March 2023 (ungm.org)