{"id":92122,"date":"2018-05-21T12:39:01","date_gmt":"2018-05-21T12:39:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=d169c94c3c4ec71a03e9673cb7023f0e"},"modified":"2018-05-21T12:39:01","modified_gmt":"2018-05-21T12:39:01","slug":"speech-publishing-a-british-comparative-advantage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=92122","title":{"rendered":"Speech: Publishing: a British comparative advantage"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

It\u2019s been more than 30 years since I started my first publishing business: writing, editing and publishing a local \u2018what\u2019s on\u2019 guide, based in my university digs, when I was supposed to be studying for my degree. And I must say \u2013 time well spent.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure a lot\u2019s changed since then \u2013 you\u2019ll know better than me! But I\u2019m really pleased to see our industry going from strength to strength.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s not just a personal thing. Trade is a real priority for this government: for the first time in this country\u2019s history, we\u2019ve got a department solely devoted to increasing our international trade.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t forget that Brexit cuts across hundreds of policy areas: but only one of them got a brand new, permanent department. One need only glance at the papers to see how far trade has moved up the political agenda.<\/p>\n

It is right that it is a priority \u2013 trade and investment matter to our economy. We exported well over \u00a3600 billion last year; we\u2019re now the world\u2019s fourth largest exporting nation, after overtaking France and Japan; we\u2019ve got \u00a32.4 trillion of British money invested abroad or foreign money invested here.<\/p>\n

The government wants to build on that, which is why we\u2019re creating a new Export Strategy \u2013 led by Rona Fairhead<\/a>, who also used to work in publishing, and I believe talked at your event at the London Book Fair in March.<\/p>\n

The UK\u2019s comparative advantage in publishing<\/h2>\n

Trade is all about playing to your strengths: it\u2019s called comparative advantage for a reason.<\/p>\n

And publishing is an area of strength for Britain.<\/p>\n

Our language is an advantage. Speaking the world\u2019s language is naturally going to help us publish to the world.<\/p>\n

Our researchers are an advantage. There\u2019s a reason why we\u2019re home to 10% of the world\u2019s academic publishers, with \u00a31.1 billion of international revenue.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s because we have one of the world\u2019s best science bases, and some of the best universities: according to Times Higher Education, for 7 years in a row the 10 highest-rated universities, as ranked by fellow academics, were all in either the UK or the US.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s something the government wants to support further: in the Industrial Strategy<\/a> we committed to increasing R&D<\/abbr> spending to 3% of GDP<\/abbr>, which would put us in the top quartile of OECD<\/abbr> countries.<\/p>\n

Our intellectual property regime is an advantage. Your work is world-class. But you need to get paid for it.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, Britain boasts one of the world\u2019s most robust intellectual property regimes, and the Creative Industries Sector Deal<\/a> included \u00a32 million to educate consumers on the value of copyright.<\/p>\n

And \u2013 let\u2019s not underestimate this \u2013 there\u2019s the cultural factor. Publishers know how to export, because you already export a lot \u2013 I believe 57% of your revenues come from exporting, which is impressive.<\/p>\n

So when it comes to exporting, you start from a strong position \u2013 and the government is helping secure that position.<\/p>\n

Government help for publishing exports<\/h2>\n

But this isn\u2019t just about setting the right background conditions. The government is also committed to directly helping you export.<\/p>\n

Over the past 4 years, the Department for International Trade and its predecessors have had a significant presence at the annual London Book Fair, including meetings with targeted buyers from China, India, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, USA and the UAE.<\/p>\n

And our Tradeshow Access Programme<\/a> is helping UK publishers to attend other major international trade fairs.<\/p>\n

This year, from April 2018 to March 2019, there will be UK groups, managed by the Publishers\u2019 Association, at the Bologna Children\u2019s Book Fair, the Shanghai International Children\u2019s Book Fair, the New York Rights Fair, the Beijing International Book Fair and the Frankfurt Book Fair.<\/p>\n

And you\u2019ll be helped by our efforts to promote exporting more widely.<\/p>\n

The Export Strategy<\/h2>\n

I can\u2019t give you every detail on the Export Strategy \u2013 like any good book, you\u2019ll have to wait until it comes out.<\/p>\n

But let me give you some teasers \u2013 or spoilers, if you like \u2013 and a flavour of what we\u2019re already doing.<\/p>\n

We will put finance at the heart of our offer: UK Export Finance<\/a>, the world\u2019s oldest export credit agency, can provide insurance or credit to help you export. It can now already provide over \u00a350 billion in support, in over 60 different currencies.<\/p>\n

As part of our export strategy, we\u2019ll be doing a full review of the UK Export Finance product suite.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll be encouraging the uptake of Export Finance support \u2013 too many people don\u2019t know about it. And we\u2019ll be especially focussing on SME\u2019s and on companies down the supply chain \u2013 those who don\u2019t export themselves, but who supply to companies that do.<\/p>\n

And finance is far from the end. We\u2019ll be making sure that companies have the right practical and promotional support, too \u2013 this is a comprehensive strategy, using all the tools at our disposal.<\/p>\n

People often think of the Department for International Trade as a purely \u2018Brexit department\u2019.<\/p>\n

Well, aside from UK Export Finance, which is nearly 100 years old in one form or another, we have a network of trade advisers in 108 countries across the world.<\/p>\n

So if any of you are looking at expanding into a new market: my department can give you the local knowledge you need, connecting you with local opportunities and helping you understand local business practices.<\/p>\n

Our Export Strategy is also going to stick to some important principles.<\/p>\n

One of these is that it must be for business, and led by business.<\/p>\n

Another is what we call \u2018no wrong door\u2019 principle. Government can be complex \u2013 sometimes that\u2019s unavoidable. But that doesn\u2019t mean dealing with us should be complex.<\/p>\n

The support you get should be seamless \u2013 you shouldn\u2019t have to understand our internal structure to work with us, anymore than you\u2019d expect that of your own customers.<\/p>\n

Future trade policy<\/h2>\n

Now, the Export Strategy does not exhaust our trade policy. There is, of course, the small matter of Brexit and of trade agreements outside the Customs Union.<\/p>\n

Let me say first that we will be transitioning the EU\u2019s existing free trade agreements, and that we\u2019re taking through the House of Commons right now a Trade Bill<\/a> that will give us the powers we need to do that.<\/p>\n

But we will also be looking to sign new trade agreements. That is one of the great opportunities we will have, once we have left the Customs Union: the IMF<\/abbr> estimates that 90% of global growth in the next 10 to 15 years is going to come from outside the EU.<\/p>\n

We are currently barred from negotiating trade agreements under the EU duty of sincere cooperation. But we are laying the ground \u2013 and the signs have been positive.<\/p>\n

As you\u2019d expect, we take a holistic approach to prioritising them, and it requires judgment \u2013 there\u2019s no algorithm. But we take into account things like the size of the economy, how easily we could reach an agreement, and how compatible our economies are.<\/p>\n

We have set up working groups covering 21 countries, and myself and other ministers in my department have made over 160 overseas visits.<\/p>\n

And we\u2019ve had a good reception. To quote the Prime Minister of New Zealand: \u201cWe are here, ready and waiting\u2026when you are ready we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

I know the US is one of your biggest markets. Well, here\u2019s US Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin: \u201cAs soon as the UK is ready we will be prepared to negotiate an attractive trade deal\u201d.<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t put it clearer than that.<\/p>\n

So, I do think we will get trade agreements that will allow us to maintain and extend your overseas markets.
\nBut before I finish, I\u2019d like to emphasise how important it is for me to hear from you and what you have to say. There\u2019s a reason why a key principle of the Export Strategy is designing it around the needs of business \u2013 it\u2019s because the Department for International Trade exists, ultimately, for you.<\/p>\n

The government doesn\u2019t trade, businesses trade \u2013 my job is simply to facilitate you trading, and I can only do that effectively if I know the barriers you face.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Graham Stuart speaks at the Publishers Association on the industry’s value to UK trade, the Export Strategy, and trade policy beyond the Customs Union.<\/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\/92122"}],"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=92122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92122\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=92122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=92122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=92122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}