Last week, U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron led a trade delegation to Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, and Malaysia to boost U.K. trade and investment in the region. He was joined by more than 30 representatives from businesses from every region of the U.K.
In total, the visit resulted in deals worth over £750 million that will create 270 new jobs across the U.K. For example, CBI member Rolls-Royce won a US$580 million (£340 million) TotalCare long-term engine support contract with Vietnam Airlines for Trent XWB engines that will power 14 Airbus A350 XWB aircraft. The new deal will support U.K. manufacturing in Derby, Rolls-Royce’s manufacturing hub for Trent XWB engines. Please read more here.
The British Prime Minister and Business Secretary Sajid Javid also led the first Northern Powerhouse trade mission, taking over 60 northern companies to Singapore and Malaysia, underlining the government’s commitment to the creation of a Northern Powerhouse. The delegation represented a total turnover in excess of £10 billion, with a combined workforce of over 50,000.
The trip came as Malaysian investor Petra Group announced that 90 highly skilled jobs will be created in the North following an investment in the region of £12 million. The company plans to develop a rubber recycling manufacturing facility using their patented technology to produce Green Rubber.
The Northern Powerhouse trade mission celebrated successes and business wins such as:
- The U.K. Prime Minister announced a new £4 million investment from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) that will support CBI member The University of Sheffield to build one of the largest dynamic test facilities in the U.K. The facility will enable the University of Sheffield to work with industry to test and research engineering structures and systems from the component level to full scale. It will also allow testing across a range of environments previously inaccessible to academic research. Please read more here.
- Manchester-based SME FutureEverything won a contract from the Singapore Government worth £500,000, which will see it explore the Smart Nation through digital culture, developing a Smart Nation Innovation Lab and conference.
- Cheshire-based Cambridge Dream, which runs international ‘Leadership and University Preparation’ summer schools at Cambridge University, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Malaysia-based Brighton Education Group. The two education organisations will work together on projects to equip young people across ASEAN with the knowledge and skills to realise their academic and career aspirations.
The U.K. Prime Minister also made a historic visit to the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, pledging to deepen the U.K.’s economic ties with the region. ASEAN Secretary-General H.E. Le Luong Minh updated Mr. Cameron on the progress made in realising the ASEAN Economic Community by the end of this year.
Mr. Mingh also highlighted how ASEAN, with a combined GDP of nearly US$2.6 trillion in 2014, is currently the seventh-largest economy in the world and is on track to become the fourth-largest by 2050.
From the U.K. side, Mr. Cameron commended the progress made in realising the ASEAN Economic Community and said that the U.K. will step up its economic engagement by exploring cooperation in areas such as infrastructure development and e-commerce.
The Prime Minister also said that he would appoint a special envoy for trade to facilitate trade and investment relations between ASEAN and the U.K. Please read more here.
Please click here to read a full overview of the Prime Minister’s visit to Southeast Asia.
Comments