Dear Members and Friends,
I was intrigued by the direction of travel spelt out by the Foreign Secretary’s Mansion House speech at the Lord Mayor’s 2022 Easter Banquet. In this speech, Liz Truss said that geopolitics is back, and pressed for a reboot in the “free world’s approach to tackling global aggressors in the wake of the Ukraine crisis”.
Of interest and relevance to our members and us all, she commented that, “we need to recognise the growing role that the economy plays in security. In the UK we are now using all of our economic levers — trade, sanctions, investment and development policy — in a much more assertive way. We recognise that growth from cheap gas and money syphoned from kleptocracies is growth built on sand. It’s not the same as real, sustained growth from higher productivity and greater innovation. Free trade and free markets are the most powerful engine of human progress. We will always champion economic freedom.” You can read a full copy of the speech HERE.
With this context, we expect our ‘Meet the Ambassadors’ series in June 2022 to be an active manifestation of this growing commitment to the leverage of a combination of economic levers — spanning both trade and development. Our members at British Expertise International have been delivering ‘the best of UK’ in infrastructure capabilities, education and climate change solutions, development and humanitarian assistance — often in conflict or disaster situations and in hard-to-reach geographies. You can visit our events website page to register directly for the specific regional events that are taking place during the series.
This week the FDCO also published its response to Independent Commission for Aid Impact’s (ICAI) rapid review on Tackling fraud in UK aid through multilateral organisations. The review assessed the extent to which the UK government ensures the effective management of fraud risk in its core funding to multilateral organisations. In its response the FCDO accepted or partially accepted the recommendations of the review highlighting that they believe the review recognised that the FCDO has effective processes in place to assess and manage potential fraud risk in the multilateral organisations they work with.
In terms of other events coming up, on Tuesday 17th May, we look forward to a session with the DIT team on ‘Global Health Strategy and Opportunities: The DIT Priorities’. The UK’s contribution to global health stretches way beyond Covid 19; and with our great reputation in health expertise, the sector represents a significant opportunity for global growth. In this event we will hear first-hand for the Department for International Trade’s team responsible for supporting this vibrant sector. They will highlight their overall strategy and detail some of the key opportunity areas they see in the future — across multiple areas. This event is open to all UK health organisations working or looking to work in international markets. We are delighted to be joined by the DIT team, which will include Dr Aphrodite Spanou, Director for Healthcare, Life Sciences and Chemicals; Rahul Agarwal, Deputy Head Healthcare & Life Sciences; David Sheppard, Deputy Head Healthcare; and Madhukar Bose, Deputy Head Healthcare.
On Wednesday 25th May we look forward to hosting the Asian Development Bank’s Director of Macroeconomics Research Abdul Abiad. He will take us through the key highlights from the Asian Development Outlook 2022 report launched last month. Insights will include the drivers of recovery across the region, and perspectives on the key risks weighing on the region’s outlook. He will share insights on policy responses, and potential long-term effects of the global headwinds, including current impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The following week on Tuesday 31st May, we will be hosting a presentation on the impact that the European Union’s Green New Deal will have on UK businesses. As the European Union begins to rapidly pursue its Climate related targets, a multitude of new regulations are being brought in that will ultimately impact on both trade and development projects. Do join us to find out more.
On Wednesday 1st June, we will also be hosting a panel event the with BEI Built Environment Working Group who will be presenting on their latest work on Resilience in the Built Environment. Resilience has long been a core aspect of the Built Environment, but now with the increasing impact of climate change, this topic has gathered renewed significance amongst businesses and policymakers. Join us for this online event as our panelists share insights into the Built Environment Working Group’s unique framework for contextualising the UK export offer in this area, whilst also showcasing the latest projects being delivered by UK exporters.
With an ever-increasing mandate and a new strategy, we look forward to welcoming British International Investment (BII) previously the CDC Group’s Colin Buckley (Managing Director) and Andrew Palmer (Director of Global Affairs) as they present on the UK’s development finance institution’s new 2022–2026 strategy and key highlights on its role as part of the UK Government’s international development financing offer. Join us to hear more about BII’s plans and priorities over the coming years. For more details and to register for these events, please click here.
I am an optimist, and by all accounts I would say the weather has turned and we can expect an outlook of warmer weather. So, enjoy the weekend and take in some well-deserved Vitamin-D in the great ‘sunny’ outdoors.
With Best Wishes
Derrick
Derrick Sanyahumbi
Chief Executive Officer
British Expertise International
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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 and Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, and we also support a Safeguarding Leads Network. For details contact Joe McLynn
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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.
9th May — BEI Girls’ Education Working Group
17th May — Global Health Strategy and Opportunities: the DIT view
17th May — BEI Built Environment Working Group
18th May — BEI Climate Change Working Group
24th May — BEI Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Working Group
6th June — BEI Education Working Group
8th June — Doing Business with British International Investment (formerly CDC Group)
13th June — BEI Girls’ Education Working Group
13th June — Meet The Ambassadors: West Africa
14th June — Meet The Ambassadors: Middle East (GCC)
14th June — Meet the Ambassadors: The Caribbean
15th June — Meet the Ambassadors: East and Central Africa
15th June — Meet The Ambassadors: Latin America
15th June — BEI Climate Change Working Group
16th June — Meet The Ambassadors: Central Asia
16th June — Meet the Ambassadors: North Africa
21st June — Meet the Ambassadors: South Asia
21st June — Meet the Ambassadors: Southern Africa
22nd June — Meet The Ambassadors: Southeast Asia
22nd June — Meet The Ambassadors: Middle East (non-GCC)
23rd June — Meet the Ambassadors: Western Balkans
28th June — BEI Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Working Group
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External News & Events
Egypt Inwards Mission (1 to 20 May): the British Egyptian Business Association (BEBA) in collaboration with DIT Egypt is bringing a delegation of Egyptian Ministers and business leaders to the UK. There is a series of roundtables discussions covering the investment climate infrastructure, renewables, climate change, green finance and much more. This visit is particularly relevant as Egypt will host CoP27 at Sharm El Sheikh. Attendance at the events is by invitation only. For anyone who wishes to participate please contact Katie Duffy (kd@britishexpertise.org)
17th — 18th May — UKEF is hosting a supplier fair on 17th and 18th May which may be of interest to members in the water/civil engineering sector. Please find details of the hybrid event on the event page here: UKEF Supplier Fair. The event is free to attend and suppliers can register their interest and find further information on that event page.
26th May — The Saudi E-Commerce Council in partnership with the SBJBC and DIT will be hosting a Saudi/UK E-commerce event in London on the morning of 26 May. The Saudi delegation will be led by HE Dr Majed AlQasabi, Minister of Commerce, and includes senior representatives of key Saudi public sector stakeholders. Please Register Here or for further information visit the SBJBC events page.
28th June — The Saudi British Joint Business Council (SBJBC) is planning a half-day Renewable Energy Forum in London on 28 June 2022 in partnership with the Lord Mayor and City of London. The Forum will focus on investment and partnership opportunities in renewable energy and clean-tech, including hydrogen, and the finance available. 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.
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