Dear Members and Friends,
It is hard not to start this note with a continued focus on the events in Ukraine. The strength of the global reaction and the unity demonstrated is heartening, but Putin’s military campaign continues, albeit more slowly than he imagined. What is already clear is the scale of the destruction and loss of life already caused. What is also clear is that there is already a significant humanitarian crisis, with families fleeing across the borders into neighbouring countries. I am sure many of our members will already be supporting this need, and our thoughts remain with all those both involved with and supporting the situation.
This week, as part of our continuing ‘Meet the Trade Envoy’ series, we were delighted to host a roundtable with the PM’s Trade Envoy to Morocco Dr Andrew Murrison MP. Dr Murrison highlighted the significant opportunities in Morocco, as the country seeks to solidify its position as the ‘gateway to Africa’. Morocco has already invested significantly in upgrading its infrastructure and is keen to do more with UK based businesses. The discussion, which ranged from opportunities in education to the digitisation of government demonstrated the diversity of opportunity. Dr Murrison is keen to lead a Trade Mission to Morocco in the near future and invited any interested members to make contact with him. Please contact the Events Team to register your interest to join should the Trade Mission proceed.
On Tuesday, I joined an online event hosted by the Impact Investing Institute which focused on their report “Estimating and describing the UK impact investing market”. It was interesting to note from the report that the UK impact investment market was worth an estimated £58 billion in 2020 and represents approximately 3.3–8% of the total global market. The report also identified two key themes that might shape the future impact investing market, and these were: a ‘Just Transition’ approach to impact investing, and the growing interest in investing in nature-based solutions. For our members with an interest in this space, the report provides some really informative and interesting reading.
Also on Tuesday, we hosted both the BEI Built Environment and BEI Nature-based Solutions Subgroups. In both meetings, there were some great discussions around their future engagement plans with their targeted stakeholders and the latest IPCC report. Since the publication of the reports in November, members are now in the process of designing a series of events to help showcase this work and provide a succinct summary of the UK’s offer in these important thematic areas.
Looking forward to the week ahead, On March 7th we will be hosting an event to discuss the most recent World Bank 2022 Global Economic Prospects report. This World Bank Group flagship report examines global economic developments and prospects, with a special focus on emerging market and developing economies. Members and our networks welcome to join.
We are also very excited to be hosting a panel discussion and reception to coincide with International Women’s Day on March 8th. In an event organised in partnership with our sister company, The D Group, we will be joined by: Clare Southwell, Principal Consultant at PA Consulting and a member of Women in Defence’s Leadership Team; Professor Denise Bower OBE, Executive Director of External Engagement at Mott MacDonald; Sheila Flavell CBE — Deputy President, TechUK and Chief Operating Officer, FDM Group; and Tamsyn Barton, Chief Commissioner at the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI). They will share their experiences and insights on some of the ways in which their industries or sectors are working to attract, retain and progress more female talent.
Given the strong reputation that the UK has as a force for good in Global Regulation and the increasing importance of technology and AI in all our fields of operation, I thought members might be interested in seeing this report, New Frontiers of Global Regulation, written by our sister company The British Foreign Policy Group. The report examines both the proactive opportunities and strategic necessities of the UK taking a more prominent position in designing, championing and implementing new frameworks of global governance across four emerging areas: the ‘global’ internet, ethical Artificial Intelligence, space, and the Arctic.
At a time when events in Ukraine continue to unfold and take centre stage in global news, I would like to end on a more positive and encouraging note. In recent news from the UN, Nations have agreed on a historic milestone to stop plastic pollution. This lays foundations for negotiations and approval of a global plastics treaty by 2024 — solving the issues of plastic pollution and supporting the transition to a circular economy.
Wishing you all a restful weekend.
With Best Wishes
Derrick
Derrick Sanyahumbi
Chief Executive Officer
British Expertise International
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Upcoming Events
Currently most of our events are hosted virtually and we are starting to explore face to face and 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*.
7th March — The World Bank — 2022 Global Economic Prospects Report.
7th March — BEI Education Working Group
8th March — International Women’s Day: Panel Discussion and Reception
10th March — BEI Infrastructure Working Group
16th March — BEI Climate Change Working Group
16th March — Opportunities for UK Companies in Nigeria
16th March — Lunch with Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for Eastern Europe and Central Asia
22nd March — Opportunities for UK Companies in Egypt
22nd March — BEI Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Working Group
4th April — BEI Education Working Group
11th April — BEI Girls’ Education Working Group
20th April — Lunch with Turkey’s Ambassador to the UK Ümit Yalçın
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External News & Events
17 March — Clean Growth Exhibition & Reception Vietnam — for UK companies based in Vietnam, there is a reception & exhibition of UK industry expertise in clean growth sectors, to take place at the InterContinental Hotel in HCMC, 1700–2000 on 17th March. There will be a panel discussion exploring corporate action on clean growth. Contact Sam Wood for details.
21st -25th March — A market access roadshow will be taking place in the UK. One of the forums will be for UK businesses to address their concerns on barriers they’ve faced doing business in Kenya, and/or while trying to access the Kenyan market. There will also be another forum for B2B networking with Kenyan businesses seeking potential matchmaking opportunities with UK companies. To register, click here.
Mid April (dates TBC) — British Embassy in Tashkent is inviting UK companies to attend its flagship event — Uzbek British Trade and Investment Council (UBTIC). This is the official bilateral trade and investment forum convened by the governments of the United Kingdom and Uzbekistan. For more details, please contact Komila.Khamidova@fcdo.gov.uk.
25th — 29th April — Spatial analysis in QGIS and R — An Introduction for Environmental Scientists. Running over four half-day sessions, this hands-on and interactive online course will give you an introduction to spatial data analysis in an open-source environment. For more information click here and to sign up and pay online click here.
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