{"id":91748,"date":"2018-05-09T19:29:25","date_gmt":"2018-05-09T19:29:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=2d72055716f5c6a7e1c4e2a45eca759e"},"modified":"2018-05-09T19:29:25","modified_gmt":"2018-05-09T19:29:25","slug":"speech-where-credits-due-helping-our-creators-and-innovators-export","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=91748","title":{"rendered":"Speech: Where credit’s due: helping our creators and innovators export"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Thank you, Mark.<\/p>\n

And thank you all for coming here today.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m here because we, as a country, have a challenge. But it\u2019s a good challenge!<\/p>\n

Yes, we\u2019ve had 5 consecutive years of economic growth.<\/p>\n

Yes, unemployment is at its lowest for 40 years.<\/p>\n

Yes, exports increased 10% last year.<\/p>\n

We exported well over \u00a3600 billion last year \u2013 on the latest figures, these small islands are the 4th largest exporters in the entire world, and the second-largest exporter of services.<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s the challenge?<\/p>\n

You see, when it comes to exports we punch above our weight.<\/p>\n

But we punch below our potential.<\/p>\n

We are a great trading nation. Exporting is one of our strengths.<\/p>\n

If we want to sustain jobs and prosperity across the country we must play to our strengths.<\/p>\n

But with exporting we\u2019re not playing at full strength.<\/p>\n

Exports make up 30% of UK GDP, compared to 46% Germany.<\/p>\n

Less than 10% of our businesses export. Now, not all those should \u2013 it\u2019s not the government\u2019s job to tell people what\u2019s best for their own business.<\/p>\n

But so many more of them could.<\/p>\n

If we could get those businesses selling internationally, imagine the difference it would make!<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve seen that difference myself: before I went into politics, I spent a decade in the publishing industry as CEO of the Financial Times Group and CFO of Pearson.<\/p>\n

Publishing is one of the most export-driven industries in the UK.<\/p>\n

And I can tell you first-hand \u2013 I found that exporting and operating internationally didn\u2019t just raise our profits and let us access new customers.<\/p>\n

It also made us more competitive at home, letting us spread risk and achieve economies of scale, and exposing us to new ideas and practices from other countries.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s backed by evidence \u2013 exporters are more profitable, more productive and more enduring.<\/p>\n

So we need to get those non-exporters exporting \u2013 and get our existing exporters to sell more things to more markets.<\/p>\n

If we do that, it will be a genuine step change for our economy.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s why our new Export Strategy will be so important.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not enough to just do more of what we\u2019re already doing.<\/p>\n

We need to take a strategic look at our export support, starting from first principles; and we need to take an evidence-based approach, to allow us to solve our challenge.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what our Export Strategy is for.<\/p>\n

Firstly, it will give us the rigorous analysis, so we know why we aren\u2019t exporting more, where our strengths and weaknesses lie, and where government intervention can make the most difference.<\/p>\n

And secondly \u2013 it is a strategy. That might sound trivial, but it really is important \u2013 it allows us to look across the piece, to see the challenge, and solution, as a whole. That\u2019s the only way we\u2019ll get the step-change in exporting we need.<\/p>\n

That means being strategic about how we work as a government, too.<\/p>\n

Businesses shouldn\u2019t have to know how government works to get help from the government.<\/p>\n

Most of you here today are from business \u2013 you wouldn\u2019t expect your customers to be familiar with your own internal structure. If you customers contact the wrong part of the business \u2013 you just redirect them.<\/p>\n

Government shouldn\u2019t be any different. So one key principle of the Export Strategy will be a \u201cno wrong door\u201d policy \u2013 we will work better together as government, so we can work better with you, not the other way round.<\/p>\n

It\u2019ll be joined up with the Industrial Strategy, and our drive for a more prosperous Britain \u2013 all targeted at creating the right environment and the best base for exporters.<\/p>\n

And that leads us on to the second principle, which is that our Export Strategy must be business-led.<\/p>\n

We need a strategy run for exporters. The government doesn\u2019t export. Businesses export. Our job is simply to facilitate you exporting \u2013 so our export strategy must be designed around you.<\/p>\n

It needs to be a strategy designed with exporters. We\u2019re using the Export Strategy is to give us the hard analysis and data to do that better.<\/p>\n

We must focus on doing what only government can do \u2013 our USPs, if you like \u2013 rather than trying to replicate what business already does.<\/p>\n

For example, the government has a role providing advice to exporters. But that should complement and not usurp the role of private-sector business advice services.<\/p>\n

And the government has a role providing export finance \u2013 but that should complement the role of banks and insurers providing cashflow and managing risk.<\/p>\n

And when the government does take action, we can work with and through the private sector. That\u2019s why, as of last year, SMEs can now get Export Finance directly from their bank.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll be publishing in the coming months, so let me give you a flavour.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll be focusing on key areas:<\/p>\n

Firstly, we will inspire and catalyse companies to export.<\/p>\n

Surveys suggest there\u2019s between three and four hundred thousand businesses who could export but aren\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Many businesses that do export sell to just one market.<\/p>\n

We need to persuade those businesses to look further afield, because people do want to buy British.<\/p>\n

As a trade minister I regularly travel abroad \u2013 there is no question of the regard in which the UK is held. People are impressed by the quality of our goods and the professionalism of our services.<\/p>\n

According to research by Barclays, 61% of people in China, for example, would actually pay more money for a product if it had a Union Jack on it \u2013 that\u2019s some reputation for quality.<\/p>\n

This underpins our award-winning GREAT campaign, who advertise the benefits exporting can have for businesses across a range of sectors, from education to science to sport. To paraphrase: \u201cif we can, you can\u201d.<\/p>\n

And we will promote peer-to-peer learning, so potential exporters can learn from existing ones \u2013 as I said, this is about business first and foremost.<\/p>\n

Secondly, it means supporting and guiding businesses to export.<\/p>\n

Specific advice on our website.<\/p>\n

Our network of regional trade advisers is already helping businesses across the country to export; and our network of trade advisers in 108 countries across the world can help companies navigate local markets.<\/p>\n

Thirdly, it means working with private providers, using the Connecting power of government to connect businesses with opportunities.<\/p>\n

We are appointing 9 Trade Commissioners to promote trade.<\/p>\n

But export finance is at the heart.<\/p>\n

Almost 1\/5th of businesses report concerns about finance or getting paid as being their main barrier to exporting.<\/p>\n

And research shows that exporters that have access to trade finance have export volumes as much as 60% higher.<\/p>\n

We start from a strong base here \u2013 and that\u2019s our best kept secret. As you\u2019ll have heard today, UK Export Finance has the capacity to provide over \u00a350 billion worth of support, in over 60 currencies.<\/p>\n

This year, UK Export Finance (UKEF<\/abbr>) has been named best export credit agency by both the Global Trade Review and Trade Finance.<\/p>\n

We whisper: but we need to shout!<\/p>\n

To give some recent examples, UKEF<\/abbr> is providing a 270 million Euro loan to support the construction by Colas UK of a new international airport in Kabaale, Uganda.<\/p>\n

And UKEF<\/abbr> is helping secure at least $250 million of UK exports for two power projects in Iraq, running a supplier fair with lead contractors Enka UK and GE to source suppliers for their projects.<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s clear that in UK Export Finance, the UK\u2019s exporters, or would-be exporters, have a truly world-class export credit agency at their disposal.<\/p>\n

But we recognise that we have more to do. 75% of SMEs report that they don\u2019t know how to access trade finance \u2013 we clearly need to fix this.<\/p>\n

So in last year\u2019s Autumn Budget the Chancellor allocated funding to enhance marketing of UKEF<\/abbr> services, putting export finance at the heart of trade promotion.<\/p>\n

And our new Export Strategy will do even more.<\/p>\n

We will encourage these smaller businesses to access UKEF<\/abbr> support directly from their banks, giving them fast access to government backing to grow their international business.<\/p>\n

We will also capture the value of UKEF<\/abbr>\u2019s highly successful supplier fairs, as a draw to international companies to deepen their investment and engagement with the UK supply chain.<\/p>\n

We want to use this to make it easier for SMEs to export, by providing a \u2018safe\u2019 channel for them to find and bid for contracts on major international projects that are backed by UK Export Finance.<\/p>\n

And we are conducting a full review of our product suite \u2013 to ensure we can provide the best possible support even as market conditions change.<\/p>\n

Step-by-step, we are making sure companies can access the finance they need to sell abroad \u2013 so no viable project fails for lack of finance.<\/p>\n

This is not a straightforward task \u2013 but it is one that, if addressed, will reap invaluable benefits.<\/p>\n

Remember \u2013 the reason this government prioritises trade and exports isn\u2019t because we start from a low base.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s precisely because we start from a high base \u2013 exports are 30% of our GDP.<\/p>\n

That inevitably makes the challenge more difficult \u2013 but it also makes it a challenge worth undertaking.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what the Export Strategy is for.<\/p>\n

I can promise you that export finance will be front and centre of our Export Strategy.<\/p>\n

But that will only work if you as businesses are front and centre of the Strategy, and if you help in creating the export strategy you need.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s my call to you today.<\/p>\n

We want to build our Export Strategy with you; and together with you, we can build a nation of exporters.<\/p>\n

Thank you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Speech delivered by the Minister of State for Trade and Export Promotion, Baroness Fairhead, to an audience at the first UK Trade and Export Finance Forum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91748"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=91748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91748\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=91748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=91748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=91748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}