Warwickshire College targets Far East growth with new trade mission
EDUCATION providers in Warwickshire are participating in an all-party trade mission to Singapore and Indonesia.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Trade & Investment is taking a group of UK businesses and colleges to the Far East to boost trade links.
The mission is being led by APPG chair and Stourbridge MP Margot James. It is 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.
In total, 15 British companies from the education and infrastructure sectors are taking part in the mission, 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, which ends on Saturday, began in Singapore where the group met key figures from the public and private sector education and business communities. Highlights of the visit will 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.”
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 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.
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.
