Feb 3, 2023

BEI Weekly Update — 3rd February 2023

by

Peter O’Kane

by

Dear Members and Friends,

Welcome to the second of our new look weekly communication. There are reports on events this week, which included a productive session with representatives of the Kazakh government and a number of universities on their plans to grow the sector in order to serve the growing young population of the country. You’ll also find an interesting update in ‘Out and About’ on Community Action Nepal, a charity BEI supports, founded by legendary UK mountaineer and the first Brit to summit Everest, Doug Scott.The ‘23 Grafton Street’ section offers a short 2 minute video, interviewing participants and faculty members of Strategy’s personal development course for future leaders. It’s been a consistent winner for participants and their employers and it's open to all members. And there’s a blog by Evie Aspinall from BFPG, our think tank, on the differences in Foreign Policy being articulated by the Conservative and Labour Parties.

Events Update

Recordings of recent events can be found via this link. They include a recording of this week’s deep dive into Senegal Infrastructure Opportunities - a virtual deep dive on infrastructure opportunities in Senegal covering road, rail, and port development, water desalination, renewable energy and capacity building.

Link to recent event recordings →

Key events coming up include the following:

7th February 2023 09:00 - 10:30 GMT: Education Working Group - The Education Working Group was established to help facilitate our members’ role in driving the UK’s global education agenda, enabling better collaborative engagement between members, HMG and other key stakeholders.
7th February 2023 15:00-16:30 GMT: Climate TRACE – mobilising data to track GHG - Learn about the work and mission of Climate TRACE. Their emissions inventory is the world’s first comprehensive accounting of GHG emissions based primarily on direct, independent observation
14th February 2023 15:00-16:00 GMT: GESI Working Group - The Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Working Group has replaced the previous Girls’ Education Working Group following a need to engage on wider matters of equality and inclusion not just related to women and girls, but other marginalised members of society.
21st February 2023 16:00-19:00 GMT: Skills and Training Working Group - The Skills and Training Working Group was established to provide a collaborative forum for sharing interest, experience and knowledge to enhance the British Skills offer internationally and support British Expertise International members to convert their commercial opportunities.
23rd February 2023 15:00 - 16:30 GMT: Donor Clinic with USAid - online workshop with a team from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) who will share their tips and tricks on how to work with USAID as well as the challenges suppliers may encounter and how to overcome these.
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.

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 →

New Members

In recent weeks, we are delighted to welcome some new members:

Siderise are the UK's largest manufacturer of cavity barriers and perimeter firestops, designed to protect the building envelope from the spread of fire. Siderise - Acoustic, Fire & Thermal Insulation Solutions

Developed over the past 10 years, Spearfish's bespoke security services and tools enable companies and NGOs to reduce risk, respond to critical incidents, and meet Duty of Care and safeguarding standards to staff and contractorsSpearfish (spear-fish.com)

Out and About

In advance of our reception with the Kazakhstan Minister of Science and Higher Education, we attended and presented at their conference.
View full article on website →

Our Chairman Peter O’Kane caught up with Glyn Utting of Tetra-Tech, who is also chair of the trustees of Community Action Nepal
View full article on website →

23 Grafton Street

The British Foreign Policy Group: our think tank last week issued an article on the consistencies and differences in foreign policy between the incumbent Conservative Party and the Labour Party.

The Future Leaders Group is a well-established and highly differentiated personal development course for future leaders. With 10 one day sessions held over 11 months, the Future Leaders Group has helped multiple members develop their top talent, with a number of its alumni now part of the C-suite. It also provides for them valuable networks and the ‘through -career’ support and camaraderie of a diverse, cross-sector peer group. You can see a short video here.

The FLG is open to mid-career, fast track executives from any of the members. Recruitment is underway for the 2023 cohort – please click here to register your interest.

Have a great weekend . Start of the Six Nations. As a non-aligned organisation, we, of course, do not pick favourites....... ☘️☘️☘️

Very Best Wishes

Peter O’Kane

Chairman

British Expertise International/Strategy International

External Events

10th-15th February 2023 – Maritime Industry Trade Mission to Pakistan: Upcoming PBBC Trade Mission to Pakistan with a focus on Maritime Industry, we are looking for participants to join us, we will waive fees for BEI members, arrange visas, logistics, security and local transport. Provide full assistance in terms of business opportunities and organise meetings. Please also find the link to the upcoming Pakistan International Maritime Expo & Conference brochure.
20 & 21st February 2023 - Teacher Training Mission to Malaysia: The UK Department for International Trade (DIT) will lead a UK trade mission focusing on K-12 Teacher Training opportunities. The aim of the mission is to connect teacher training providers/specialists, government officials and education institutions leaders to learn about the latest thinking and innovations on Teacher Training Education. For more information, please contact Husna Hamimi Hashim on husna.hashim@fcdo.gov.uk
21st - 22nd February 2023 - World Water-Tech Innovation Summit, London: Join 400+ utilities, engineering firms, regulators, tech pioneers, investors and start-ups for two days packed with discussions and networking opportunities focused on energy efficiency and climate resiliency in the water industry. Save an extra 10% with code BE10:https://worldwatertechinnovation.com/agenda/
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)