Dear Members and Friends,
In the last week we have completed our annual ‘Meet The Ambassadors’ series. We conducted a further five sessions in the course of the week, spanning South Asia , Southern Africa, Southeast Asia , the Middle East (non-GCC), and finally the Western Balkans. We are grateful to all our Heads of Mission and their teams for attending the events and providing such relevant content and insights and being so responsive to the questions posed by our members.
We will reflect more on the observations over the whole series, but at an overall level, despite the challenging economic conditions that seem to be reaching every country to some degree, there are a number of consistent themes. Firstly, there remain significant opportunities for UK-based businesses internationally, backed by the UK’s strong reputation. The need to continue to transform across Infrastructure remains, with a particular focus on the key theme of Renewable Energy. Education and Health are compelling areas of opportunity — in particular to provide young people with the right skills for the future. Finally, with the recently published International Development Strategy and more devolved autonomy and decision making to Heads of Mission for programming, we look forward to sessions on the ODA budget development prioritisation and greater pipeline visibility.
Our Summer Programme continues through until the end of July, and we are delighted to be conducting a series of in person events as part of the mix. This starts with two in person events next week.
On 28th June, we look forward to hosting Andrew Mace, Senior UK Government Relations Officer for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for an in person briefing on the Foundation’s work in “Creating Opportunities for Healthy Productive Lives”. For 20 years, the Foundation has been committed to fighting the greatest inequalities in the world, working together with businesses, government, and non-profits, with each partner playing a role in accelerating progress. The presentation will share insights on how UK organisations can work with the Foundation in delivering their work.
Also on 28th June, we also look forward to welcoming Bim Afolami MP for an in-person lunch and discussion on Financing the Future: Insights into Mobilising Climate Finance. He will explore how the government and private sector can improve on mobilising, accessing, and delivering climate finance to emerging and frontier markets.
Finally, for next week, on 29th June we will be hosting an education webinar on the latest release of the report Mind the Gap 2. Seeking Safe and Sustainable Solutions for Girls’ Education in Crises. This was commissioned by the Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) and authored by BEI members Education Development Trust (EDT) covering three key themes: the digital divide; gender-based violence (GBV) and girls’ education; and girls’ education and climate change.
As we head into July, we look forward to a series of events.
On July 4th, BEI host H.E. James Sharp, British Ambassador to the Republic of Azerbaijan, and representatives from the Republic of Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce and BP, for a Market Opportunities Overview event — Doing Business in Azerbaijan. In this event, we will hear about the current business environment and why now is the time for UK companies to do business with Azerbaijan, due to the multitude of opportunities it provides in sectors such as energy, education and healthcare, as well as notable infrastructure opportunities in the liberated territories.
On 5th July, we will be hosting an in-person panel discussion entitled Global Crises & Emergencies — UK Capability and Experience. UK actors have a strong track record in responding to humanitarian and global emergencies and crises, we will be joined by speakers who will share their experiences, lessons learnt and encourage debate on some of the practical actions that can be taken to ensure more effective responses in future.
On 6th July, we will be joined by representatives from the Department of International Trade (DIT) in Ghana as we host a Ghana Deep Dive, focusing on the country’s climate priorities. The DIT team will present on Ghana’s focus on climate resilience and adaptation, and the pipeline of climate-related opportunities in the country. The event will provide a climate related sectoral insight into market opportunities and specifically, where UK exporters can best provide solutions to the impacts of climate change. — Ghana Deep Dive — Market Opportunities.
On 7th July, join us for an in-person event In conversation with Stefan Dercon, most recently Development Policy Advisor to successive Foreign Secretaries at the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) between 2020 and 2022, as he shares insights from his recently published book, “Gambling on Development: Why Some Countries Win and Others Lose”. He will probe into how he believes development has been achieved across the world, and share perspectives on why some countries have prospered, while others have failed?
Join us on 13 July for a presentation on the highlights of the latest World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects report published in June 2022. World Bank Senior Economist, Patrick Kirby will take us through key insights from a report that suggests global growth is expected to slump from 5.7 percent in 2021 to 2.9 percent in 2022 which is significantly lower than 4.1 percent that was anticipated in January.
On 14th July, join us for a Lunch with Ambassador of Kyrgyz Republic to the United Kingdom, H.E. Ulan Djusupov. This event will provide an opportunity to meet the new Ambassador of the Kyrgyz Republic to the United Kingdom and get a brief on the political and economic situation and an overview of current export and investment opportunities in Kyrgyzstan.
On 19th July, we look forward to hosting a virtual event with Andrew Bacchus, Head of Sports Projects at DIT on The Global Sports Economy — Insights and Opportunities including on sports infrastructure. Andrew and his team will provide an overview of the sports economy sector and opportunities for UK companies internationally, including sports infrastructure. With UK organisations increasingly being able to offer a broad range of expertise in this sector, it is important that we hear directly from the DIT about their strategy and specific areas of opportunity for UK plc.
Also on the 19th July, representatives from the Department for International Trade in Peru will provide an Infrastructure and Climate related sectoral insight into market opportunities and specifically, where UK exporters can best provide solutions. Peru has a strong emerging market economy that has rebounded well following on from the Covid-19 pandemic and is considered a favourable place to do business — exemplified best by the British-Peru G2G ‘El Niño reconstruction programme’, valued at £1.7 billion. We look forward to hearing all of the latest Infrastructure and Climate-related information.
For our members in the Infrastructure/Built Environment space, we are also excited to announce a new Urban Transport sub-Group that will aim to summarise UK capabilities in this area, produce a short summary paper articulating this offer, and host a series of events with targeted stakeholders to promote these capabilities. BEI members are invited to send in an expression of interest to join the group to Joe McLynn if they are willing to actively participate and contribute to the work of the group.
Finally, let’s hope that the start of Wimbledon will not have its usual negative impact on the weather! I hope you will all enjoy a relaxing weekend ahead.
With Best Wishes
Derrick
Derrick Sanyahumbi
Chief Executive Officer
British Expertise International
–
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 and Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, and we also support a Safeguarding Leads Network. For details please 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.
–
Upcoming Events
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.
28th June — Creating Opportunities for Healthy Productive Lives: Gates Foundation
28th June — Financing the Future: Insights into Mobilising Climate Finance
29th June — Mind the Gap 2. Seeking Safe and Sustainable Solutions for Girls’ Education in Crises
4th July — Doing business in Azerbaijan
5th July — Global Crises & Emergencies — UK Capability and Experience
6th July — Ghana Deep Dive — Market Opportunities
7th July — Gambling on Development — In Conversation with Stefan Dercon
14th July — Lunch with Ambassador of Kyrgyz Republic to the United Kingdom
19th July — The Global Sports Economy: Insights and Opportunities
–
External News & Events
28th June — The Saudi British Joint Business Council (SBJBC) is hosting a half-day Renewable Energy Forum in London on 28 June 2022 in partnership with the Lord Mayor and City of London. For further information or to register your interest please contact Cordelia Begbie at operations@sbjbc.org or visit the SBJBC Events Page.
28th — 29th September — Field Electronics and Sensors Training: The one-day BEGINNER course will give you an introduction to electronics as applied to environmental sensors in the field. The one-day ADVANCED course will build on the Beginners course and Learners will gain advanced knowledge on data logging systems, sensors, communication protocols and remote data downloading. Find more details HERE.
Date TBC — The Government of Jamaica intends to commission the construction of a new Parliament building. JAMPRO intends to host a webinar to explain the opportunity — date to be confirmed and will share with members. Please see below details: ePPS — View Competition details (gojep.gov.jm) https://udcja.com/2022/04/04/construction-of-the-new-jamaica-houses-of-parliament-at-national-heroes-park-kingston-jamaica/
https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20201118/us50m-price-tag-new-parliament-building
–
Not a member?
–
Learn More
For more information about British Expertise International:
- Sign up to receive this Weekly Update
- View our upcoming webinar events
- Becoming a member
- Follow us on Twitter
- Join our Linkedin group
