Dear Members and Friends,

It seems extraordinary that we are already half way through 2021. Even though we are yet to emerge fully from lockdown, the time has flown by. I wanted to take the opportunity to welcome new members who have joined BEI this year to date. They demonstrate both the breadth and diversity of our membership, and are all exemplars in their fields of British expertise that already makes a real impact on a global stage. We are delighted to welcome:

• Beale & Co, a law firm specialising in the construction, engineering, architecture and property advisory sectors.
• Stratospheric Platforms, who use pioneering technology to deliver fast, reliable 5G, and allow roll out to take place far quicker than traditional terrestrial solutions.
• Cormack Consultancy Group, who specialise in working with organisations in Higher and Further Education on the development of their international activities.
• Hydroplan, experts in creating, developing and operating sustainable renewable energy projects.
• The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), an independent research organisation that aims to deliver positive change on a global scale.
• International SOS, the world’s leading health and security services company.
• Sightsavers, who work to eliminate avoidable blindness and promote the rights of people with disabilities.

Following the completion of the ‘Meet the Ambassadors’ series, we once again want to thank the Ambassadors and their teams for supporting this very valuable programme. We are now working with their teams to detail the follow up programme of events and engagements, where we will conduct “Deep Dives” at a country level, focusing on the key opportunities across the physical and social infrastructure value chain, development aid programming and education as well as our emerging focus on Climate Change. We will be communicating more about our plans for the second half of the year shortly. As always, we welcome any feedback — both on content and logistics, so we can continue to evolve the programme. Please feedback any thoughts to Ingrid. We are also collating responses to the questions that were not answered during the sessions, and will be circulating these to attendees shortly.

As part of our programme we have also been hosting the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy roundtable discussions which provide opportunities for members to meet and discuss their experiences in doing business in the selected markets and any challenges they may face where the Trade Envoy can assist. The Trade Envoys’ role is to support the drive for economic growth by building on the UK’s existing relations with selected markets and maximising bilateral trade. This week, we were grateful to host two productive events with Mark Menzies MP, Trade Envoy to Colombia, Chile, Peru and Argentina. He set the panels the challenge of providing him with a synthesis of the key issues he should be championing on behalf of British business as he engages in the region.

Looking ahead at upcoming Trade Envoy sessions, next week, 1st July — we will be welcome Lord Popat, PM’s Trade Envoy for Uganda and Rwanda, then on July 6th we will host Richard Graham MP, PM’s Trade Envoy for ASEAN Economic Community, Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysia; and on 15 the July we will be joined by Andrew Selous MP, PM’s Trade Envoy for South Africa.

Next week also sees the relaunch of the updated version of the excellent report from our Education Working Group ‘Recover Learning, Rebuild Education’. We will be sharing the findings with members of the Diplomatic Corps based in the UK and key representatives of FCDO and DIT on June 30th, before we distribute the report more widely.

As the first half of the year comes to a close, I wanted to thank you all for your support and continuing engagement with our events and working groups. It has been a challenging time for our members, especially in the development aid sectors who, having faced programme realignment as a result of Covid-19, also had to contend with ODA budget cuts which have impacted many programmes.

We are already excited about the events programme that is taking shape and the outputs of the Working Groups. We will continue to showcase the expertise that exists across our member base and provide platforms to amplify your message and accelerate business momentum.

I wish you all a relaxing weekend, and look forward to catching up with you in person in the second half of the year — we live in hope!

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 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 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*.

29th June* — Diversity and Inclusion Working Group

1st July — Closed Roundtable Discussion with Trade Envoy Lord Popat

5th July* — Education Working Group

6th July — Closed Roundtable Discussion with Trade Envoy Richard Graham MP

6th July* — Exploring UK aid alignment with the Paris Agreement

7th July — Safeguarding Leads Network event on Survivor-Centred Approaches

8th July* — Infrastructure Exports Working Group

14th July* — UK Business Guide to Net Zero

15th July — Closed Roundtable Discussion with Trade Envoy Andrew Selous MP

20th July — Brazil Deep Dive

21st July* — Climate Change Working Group

27th July* — Diversity and Inclusion Working Group

7th September — Closed Roundtable Discussion with Heather Wheeler MP

15th September* — Business Opportunities in the Asian Development Bank — Transport and Energy

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External News & Events

30th June — The Saudi-British Joint Business Council and Department for International Trade (DIT) are hosting a webinar on SMART Cities in Saudi Arabia: Saudi Smart Cities — A UK Technology Showcase. Follow this link to register for your place now.

13th July — The Saudi-British Joint Business Council is hosting a UK/Saudi Sustainable Investment Forum at Mansion House in London with investors, government representatives and business leaders. Registration is now open, please follow this link to secure your place.

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

Public Administration Services offers capacity development and training promoting good governance and good practice in delivering public services.

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