PAGE 26 WORKING LOCALLY,THINKING GLOBALLY
“I would never have met such important people in the industry if I had not been on this trade mission.”
Delegate on the visit to India, February 2009
2008/2009 was another successful year for British Water’s international activities. We ran eight successful trade visits, hosted inward visits from five international delegations, hosted our annual meeting for companies to meet Commercial Officers who lead on the water sector in UK diplomatic ports, organised our first UK pavilion at an international trade show (WEFTEC in Chicago) held a seminar on business opportunities in Poland and a major conference to look at issues affecting the water industry Supply Chain at home and overseas.
Our regular International Forum and Specialist Suppliers Group meetings continued where members exchange views on international markets and learn of emerging opportunities as does our bi- weekly production of Cascade International, our online newstream for members on events, news, opportunities and training.
The award of the UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) contract (to deliver their water sector trade visits) has enabled British Water to assist in helping companies to explore markets such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt which are currently undergoing water sector reforms and Romania which is currently encouraging the formation of Regional Operating Companies to deliver water and wastewater services.
Delegate companies on visits report back on many successful outcomes which include receiving a first-hand update on developments in the water market, meeting potential business partners, raising awareness of their companies products / services through the seminars arranged, tracking projects and learning of forthcoming opportunities. Programmes typically include meetings with operators,
Visit to Poland, 2008
government officials, aid agencies, consultants, potential purchasers and the local trade association representative who are all active in the water sector. An added value is the networking within the UK group of participants: the sharing of expertise, experience and knowledge can result in positive collaboration within the UK and other countries.
British Water organised group visits on behalf of UKTI in the last financial year to the following markets/regions:
• Fact finding Visit to Poland: Katowice, Gliwice & Dabrowa Gornicza
• Seminar Visit to Turkey: Istanbul and Ankara
• Seminar Visit to Egypt: Cairo and Alexandria
• Seminar Visit to China: Shanghai, Hefei, Nanjing and Fuzhou
• Partnering Visit to Ireland: Dublin
• Seminar Visit to Saudi Arabia: Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam
• Seminar Visit to India: Mumbai and Chennai
• Seminar Visit to Romania: Bucharest and Braila
Whilst the overseas visits tend to attract participation from contractors, consultants and a few suppliers, manufacturers and suppliers predominantly consider exhibitions as a key way of showcasing products to new / existing markets and a key way of carrying out PR and marketing initiatives.
The markets of focus for UK Trade & Investment in the next financial year are likely to be Russia, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria and Saudi Arabia. British Water will shortly be conducting its own bi-annual survey of members to ensure its activities are focussed in the right areas and to assess whether the top 10 markets/regions identified in the last survey are still current: Romania, China, Poland, Bulgaria, India, UAE, Turkey, Russia, Africa and the USA.
The British Water membership consists of a diverse portfolio of products and services so British Water is always keen to ensure that its members have a broad range of services to utilise. With this in mind British Water has secured funding from UKTI to assist firms who wish to attend the following overseas exhibitions in 2009/2010:
• AQUATECH CHINA Shanghai, 3-5 June 2009 (annual),
• AFRIWATER (SUSTAIN AFRICA) Johannesburg, South Africa, 8-10 Sept 2009 (annual)
• WEFTEC, Florida, USA 10-14 October 2009 (annual)
• EVERYTHING ABOUT WATER EXPO, Delhi, India 28-30 January 2010 (annual)
• SMAGUA, Zaragoza, Spain 2-5 March 2010 (biennial)
www.britishwater.co.uk
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