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Keith Howells advised ACE’s annual conference delegates on entry strategies into international markets.
The chairman of Mott MacDonald said firms should be clear about their motivation to work overseas, be it business driven or for diversification. Secondly he stressed they must think long term and build local businesses instead of chasing projects.
Thirdly he suggested firms consider their preference for working in a slow but stable market or fast growing but unstable market.
He then warned that bureaucracy and costs of legal and financial advice should be factored into decisions. Likewise, he said companies had to consider how they would compete with local firms by delivering cost effective projects.
Phil Dowrick of UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) spoke about their role in boosting UK trade and business.
Mr Dowrick informed delegates that one of his roles was to shift government away from a bureaucratic mind-set. Instead he wanted to build a business mentality with the aim of preparing firms to think about exporting services.
He emphasised that fears and misconceptions were the leading reasons for UK companies not venturing to work overseas. As such government was now trying to build knowledge at early stages to support British firms abroad.
Finally Patrick Crawford of the Export Credits Guarantee Department gave a brief overview of the history of the UK’s export credit agency, created in 1919 as the world’s first export credit agency.
Patrick highlighted that with the banks tending to be overly conservative in regards to exports, ECGD offers products of interest to smaller and large firms that facilitate the process of working overseas. In that regard he emphasised the need for feedback to ensure continuous accommodation to the needs of UK plc.
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