Dear Members and Friends,

It now feels as if most people have returned from their summer breaks, and there is the sense of a ‘new term’, and even a more autumnal feel to the weather — sadly. However, our Working Groups have been very busy through the Summer, and I wanted to thank all members and representatives for their engagement and commitment.

• Our Climate Change Working Group now includes four sub-groups, covering the Built Environment, Nature Based Solutions, Flood and Weather Risk Management and Climate Finance. Each sub group is aiming to publish a summary of “UK Capabilities” to coincide with COP26 in early November.
• Our Education Working Group is now developing its content to focus upon the critical issue of Girls’ Education, whilst continuing to promote its report and associated capabilities with Global stakeholders.
• Our Infrastructure Working Group is creating a unique model and report that will help showcase member capabilities across the physical infrastructure sector and better articulate the UK international offering in this space.
• Our Diversity and Inclusion Working Group is growing in size and is building a register of member progress on D&I initiatives, as well as continuing to provide a platform for best practice and experiences to be shared.

Please contact Joe if you are not currently participating in the Working Groups but would like to be included.

Our Events Programme for Autumn kicks off in earnest next week, and I wanted to give you an overview of the plans for the next two weeks. We have a series of very exciting events lined up

7th September — Business Opportunities with the Caribbean Development Bank This is the first event in a series, which will provide first-hand information about opportunities pipelines with the CDB and provide with an in-depth look at infrastructure and renewables in the Caribbean.

8th September — Roundtable Discussion with Trade Envoy Heather Wheeler MP — this is part of our Trade Envoys event series for members only with limited numbers to ensure quality discussion. This Autumn begins with Trade Envoy to Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.

8th September — Business Opportunities in the Asian Development Bank (ADB) — Education & Healthcare — These have become annual events hosted in collaboration with UK-ASEAN and DIT focusing on business opportunities and how to do business with the ADB. These events will provide invaluable knowledge of ADB’s procurement framework, recruitment processes, and current pipeline of opportunities. This first event in the series will focus on education and healthcare.

15th September — Business Opportunities in the Asian Development Bank — Transport and Energy — This second event in the series on doing business with the ABD will focus on transport and energy. Join us for these two events to meet ADB sector specialists, and officers in procurement and project management.

15th September — Roundtable Discussion with Trade Envoy Baroness Hooper — The following members only roundtable meeting will be with Baroness Hooper CMG, Trade Envoy to Panama, Dominican Republic and Costa Rica. Latin America is a region that offers plenty of opportunities for UK businesses, and this event will be of interest to companies already operating in the region and those looking to expand alike.

You can access more details of these and our Autumn events here

The last few weeks have seen a number of announcements of new Trade Envoys and Trade Commissioners, including new Trade Envoys for Ghana, Pakistan, Brazil, and Tanzania, as well as new Trade Commissioners for Eastern Europe and Central Asia. We will be looking to working with these new appointees and will arrange sessions with them as they begin to get to grips with their new briefs.

I have started going into the office more regularly and welcome opportunities for face-to-face catch-ups over a cup of coffee perhaps. I hope you will enjoy the weekend and look forward to connecting with you all throughout the Autumn.

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*.

6th September- Education Working Group

7th September* — Doing Business with the CDB — Infrastructure and Renewables

8th September — Closed Roundtable Discussion with Trade Envoy Heather Wheeler MP

8th September — Business Opportunities in the Asian Development Bank — Education & Healthcare

9th September — Infrastructure Working Group

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

15th September — Roundtable Discussion with Trade Envoy Baroness Hooper

15th September — Climate Change Working Group

22nd September — The FCDO & Evidence Based Decisions

28th September — Diversity and Inclusion Working Group

29th September* — Doing Business with the CDB — Education and Social Sector

30th September — Lunch with Lord Mayor of London

5th October — Roundtable with HMTC Simon Penney

7th October — Opportunities and Funding for Education-based Projects in Africa: a CDC Group view

28th October — Roundtable with Trade Envoy Darren Henry MP

25th November — Doing Business with USAID

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External News & Events

6th September — The Department for International Trade (DIT) Southwest will host an event on Business Opportunities in South East Asia: A case study for supply chain and manufacturing in Thailand.

15th September — The Northern Ireland Office, DIT, and Invest NI is hosting a Northern Ireland Business and Innovation Showcase in London. The Northern Ireland Office, in partnership with the DIT and Invest NI, will showcase Northern Ireland’s business, research and innovation demonstrating their expertise, products and services in research, cyber security, fintech, life and health sciences, advanced manufacturing, and tourism. This will feature the best of Northern Ireland’s innovative businesses, start-ups and universities.

28th — 30th September — The African Development Bank (AfDB) is hosting the fourth annual ‘Africa Resilience Forum’, this year on the topic ‘Covid-19 and Beyond: Working Together for a Resilient Recovery’.

Wilton Park — Tom Cargill, CEO of Wilton Park is offering BEI members special hire rates for Wilton’s beautiful Sussex home (confusingly called Wiston Park). Interested events teams can contact them directly. More information is HERE.

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