Skip to main content
UKTI blog

Export Markets

China - part 4

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: China

I took the Maglev to Shanghai airport this morning. At 430km/hr it was a symbol of China’s self-confidence, a celebration of innovation and a good illustration of the phrase, “if you don’t try, you won’t fail”. Of course some experiments will please some …

China - Part 3

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: China

How many cities of 7 million people, capital of an area of 90 million people, have you never heard of? Would you imagine HMG has no diplomatic representation there when we have to the Vatican, Luxembourg, Uruguay and Nepal)?  Welcome …

China - part 2

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: China

Meetings are different in China.  As leader of the delegation, I sit in an armchair side by side with my Chinese opposite number, making long interventions.  So we don’t look at each other, we don’t spark off each other’s ideas, …

Back in Blighty

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Australia, Export, Financial Services

I left the UK a year and a month ago, to the day. And now I'm on my first business development visit (BDV) back in Blighty.

After a long flight, I land at Heathrow and, apart from the rain, spot the new Terminal 5 building. I'm taken aback by the sheer scale of glass in the building, and honoured by the fact that Lord Richard Rogers, the architect of this sustainable terminal, spoke less than 48 hours earlier in our boardroom back in Australia.

Visit to China - Part 1

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: China

Chinese infrastructure efficiency hits me as I arrived at Shanghai’s Pudong airport. The BA flight was over an hour late, so I had 20 minutes to get through quarantine and immigration, to change terminal, check in, go through security and find the right gate. At Heathrow this would have taken two hours minimum. The officials were helpful, the system worked, the new China.

On route to South America

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Chile

The best preparation for long haul travel is exercise and no caffeine or alcohol – particularly so for a full six day schedule visiting three markets in the vast continent of South America. So Sunday was a day of vigorous …