Trade mission to Singapore and Indonesia to boost exports
All-Party Parliamentary Group for Trade & Investment is on a trade mission to Singapore and Indonesia this week to strengthen business ties
The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Trade & Investment is taking a group of UK businesses and education providers on a trade mission to Singapore and Indonesia to strengthen business ties and boost UK exports this week.
The mission will be led by APPG Chair Margot James MP and supported by Barclays, Prudential Plc and the UK ASEAN Business Council (UKABC). It is the first time that an All-Party Parliamentary Group has taken a trade mission on a visit to a market in conjunction with UK Trade & Investment (UKTI).
Fifteen British companies from the education and infrastructure sectors will take part, including Warwickshire College, the University of Reading and Spark Architecture. Education and infrastructure opportunities are growing rapidly in the South East Asia region, which includes some of the fastest-growing markets. The region is predicted to be the fourth largest market in the world by 2030.
The mission will start in Singapore where the group will meet key figures from the public and private sector education and business communities. Highlights include visits to the Institute of Technical Education, Singapore’s largest provider of career and technical education, and the iconic British-designed Gardens by the Bay, one of the largest garden projects in the world.
In Indonesia delegates will network with government and business officials where they will gain useful knowledge of the market and engage with potential commercial partners. They will visit the World Trade Centre 2, the first certified green building in Jakarta’s Central Business District, and the highly influential Indonesian Chamber of Commerce.
Trade and Investment Minister Lord Green said: “Getting more companies to export and attracting high-quality investment to the UK are key planks of the government’s Plan for Growth. Indonesia and Singapore are high growth markets and I am delighted to see this mission taking place.”
Margot James MP said: “I am delighted to be leading this mission, the first by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Trade and Investment. This trade mission is a fantastic opportunity to give British companies access to the exciting and growing markets of Singapore and Indonesia which are vital to delivering the UK’s economic growth agenda.”
Notes to editors
1.The trade mission takes place from 9-15 March 2013.
2.In 2011 UK goods/services exports to Singapore totalled £7.8bn (+7.4% on 2010), making Singapore the UK’s largest trading partner in Southeast Asia with a 55% share of our total exports to the region. UK exports of goods only to Singapore in 2012 were £4.24bn (+16% on 2011). Opportunities in Singapore include machinery and transport, which is the largest UK goods export sector to Singapore.
3.The UK is ranked 20th largest exporter to Indonesia and the 3rd largest among EU member states. The UK’s largest exports to Indonesia include power generation equipment; general industrial machinery, road vehicles, pulp and waste paper and specialised machinery.
4.The UKABC helps UK businesses looking to find out more about the opportunities in this region, and those wanting to start doing business there. The UKABC raises awareness of the commercial opportunities in ASEAN, and provides facilitated networking opportunities with senior ASEAN commercial and political decision makers.
5.The mission is funded by Barclays, Prudential Plc and the UK ASEAN Business Council.
6.The government’s economic policy objective is to achieve ‘strong, sustainable and balanced growth that is more evenly shared across the country and between industries.’ It set four ambitions in the ‘Plan for Growth’ (PDF 1.7MB), published at Budget 2011:
- to create the most competitive tax system in the G20
- to make the UK the best place in Europe to start, finance and grow a business
- to encourage investment and exports as a route to a more balanced economy
- to create a more educated workforce that is the most flexible in Europe.
Work is underway across government to achieve these ambitions, including progress on more than 250 measures as part of the Growth Review. Developing an Industrial Strategy gives new impetus to this work by providing businesses, investors and the public with more clarity about the long-term direction in which the government wants the economy to travel.
7.UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) is the government department that helps UK-based companies succeed in the global economy. We also help overseas companies bring their high quality investment to the UK’s economy – acknowledged as Europe’s best place from which to succeed in global business. UKTI offers expertise and contacts through its extensive network of specialists in the UK, and in British embassies and other diplomatic offices around the world. We provide companies with the tools they require to be competitive on the world stage. For more information on UKTI, visit www.ukti.gov.uk or visit the online newsroom at www.ukti.gov.uk/media.