Today, ‘Emerging Europe Week’ gets underway at the International Festival for Business in Liverpool.
Over the course of five busy days, UKTI’s Central Europe Network (which comprises nine countries stretching from Poland in the north to Croatia in the south, Austria in the west to Bulgaria and Romania in the east) will host a regional business forum followed by four days focused on a selection of sectors where the most significant opportunities exist for British businesses: Life Sciences, Services, Energy and Advanced Engineering.
Emerging Europe is a priority for the government, and we have been set some ambitious targets for the region. These include, by 2020, a 10-fold increase in companies exporting to the region, 10,000 new SME exporters and 50 UK-led innovation and technology partnerships.
If these objectives are met, we will be well placed to meet the region’s overall trade target by 2020: £30 billion, or double our current performance. £30 billion is a big number, and quantifies the scale of the opportunity, but it is also a very abstract number for most of the business people I speak to.
For most of them, it is the factors that limit their exposure to risk that are most powerful in attracting them to the region – particularly as they are the kind of advantages that other regions around the world cannot match. Let me give you the three that I hear most regularly:
- It is very close to the UK (2-3 hours away by plane). That matters for people running small companies who simply cannot afford to be spending long periods out of their home office.
- All of the countries in the region are in the EU. The EU’s four key freedoms – the free movement of goods, capital, services and people – are a significant benefit for traders in all 28 member states, including those looking to export from the UK.
- English language skills are extremely strong across Emerging Europe. That is a major factor for nearly every company I have worked with in this region.
All of these things make doing business in this region easy, significantly easier than other parts of the world, and is the reason that exports ofBritish goods and servicesto Emerging Europe have more than doubled in the last 10 years.
However, despite that, British businessremains significantly under-represented in the region. This is a missed opportunity for Britain, but it is also a missed opportunity for the region, which would benefit hugely from the kind of expertise that British companies can offer in sectors like Life Sciences, Services, Energy and Advanced Engineering.
I am pleased to say that we are putting our money where our mouth is to help realise this potential, ramping up our efforts to help British businesses succeed in Emerging Europe.
UKTI’s teams, which help British companies win business in these high-growth markets, have been boosted across the region. We will also be running more trade events and missions than ever before, platforms for introducing more British businesses to potential buyers.
At the same time, the Emerging Europe GREAT campaign is boosting awareness of the UK and its competency, which will create more high value opportunities.
Finally, we are in the process of establishing a network of British Business Centres across the region. The Centres are located in the heart of capital cities and offer a range of services to British SMEs. Last year, the first Centre in Emerging Europe opened in Poland. Three more have already opened this year – in Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia – with the Czech Republic and Romania to follow shortly.
All of this means that there will rarely be a better time to explore the business opportunities that exist in Emerging Europe. I am excited to have the opportunity to make the case for the region in Liverpool this week.
Space at the Emerging Europe Week sessions is limited, but there are a small number of places still available. If you are interested in taking part, please visit http://www.relay-ukti.com/eew2014/registration-form-final.pdf to register.