INTERNATIONAL TRADE
Event attendance shows appetite for Brexit advice
The turnout at a conference to discuss business in a post-Brexit economy showed the appetite organisations have for guidance about what they should be doing to minimise the impact of the transition, as speakers addressed a packed house at Nottingham Forest Football Club. It was standing-room only in the conference facility to hear a range
of experts talk about what Britain’s withdrawal from the EU might mean for them. The first part of the event focused on
trade in a post-Brexit economy. It included addresses from Simon Hart (pictured), Brexit Lead Partner and Head of Knowledge Management, RSM, on Weathering Brexit Volatility and Becky Stark, Director, Stark Export Focus, on Trade and Brexit. A panel discussion in this section,
India is expected to become the world’s fifth-largest consumer by 2025
‘Indian companies employ 110,000 people in the UK, and UK companies are the third- largest investors in India’
Selling into the Indian market has
also become more manageable thanks to the development of ecommerce, which has enjoyed phenomenal growth as a commercial platform in recent years. While the commercial opportunities in India are significant, penetrating the market is not without difficulty, and research should be undertaken before implementing a market entry strategy. Due diligence and finding the right partner is essential. India has jumped from 130th to
77th in the past three years in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business survey, although some bureaucratic issues hampering output and deterring FDI remain. Regarding this improvement, the World Bank cites reforms in getting credit, getting electricity, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency being behind this triumphant leap. There is a lot more work to be
done here. Another area of concern is the
difficulty in enforcing contracts. The World Bank estimates it takes 1,445 days (approximately four years) to obtain a judgement in a contractual disagreement, a stark contrast to China, where the process takes on average 496 days. Despite the difficulties, the
potential of India as both an export market and FDI destination are so significant that ambitious businesses
should give serious consideration to entering the market. Speaking on the opportunities
that India presents to UK companies, Pratik Dattani, MD of EPG Economic and Strategy Consulting, said: “Indian companies employ 110,000 people in the UK, and UK companies are the third-largest investors in India, being responsible for one in 20 formal sector jobs. On the trade side, the story is one
of unfulfilled promise. India is only the 17th most important trading partner for the UK, and UK exports to India have been falling consistently for the past three years. The UK’s goods exports to India are often intermediate products which are manufactured and become India’s finished products, such as platinum (in powder or semi- manufactured form), turbo jets and propellers, gas turbines, transformers and inverters.” Organisations such as the Chamber, FICCI, EPG, Enterprise Europe Network, the UK India Business Council and the Department for International Trade are on-hand to support your Indian export journey.
If you’d like further information on the support available to companies interested in doing business in India, please contact Laura Howard, Head of International Trade, on 0333 320 0333 or email
Laura.Howard@
emc-dnl.co.uk
business network December 2018/January 2019 41
under the title of Managing Risk and International Trade, featured Becky, Dr Nik Kotecha, Chief Executive Officer at Morningside Pharmaceuticals, Keith Robe, Managing Director at Cusdec Customs Solutions and Dr Eugene Michaels, Applied Economist at the University of Derby. The second phase of the conference focused on the skills gap that
might occur post-Brexit and featured a keynote address from Rebecca McDonald, Analyst at Centre for Cities. A second panel discussion featured Rebecca, Kevin Harris,
Commercial Business and Audit Advisory Partner at RSM, Thai Vasishta, Group Chief Executive Officer at Paragon Law and Stephen Slack, People Manager at Flower World. Earlier this year, the Chamber’s Brexit Advisory Group published a
checklist of the minimum businesses should be doing to make their transition as seamless as possible. Research carried out at the time found that 75% of businesses had
not made plans to manage the potential financial impact of Brexit on their activities and 57% had not even discussed it at Board level. The Chamber, which organised the conference, is actively
encouraging firms to take steps to plan for Brexit and has campaigned to make sure the needs of business drive the Government’s position in negotiations with the EU. Scott Knowles, Chief Executive, said: “Opening the conference, I
asked how many delegates had looked at the Chamber’s Brexit Advisory Group’s Checklist on our website. Only a few hands went up. The Chamber’s Brexit Checklist is an essential tool for businesses considering their Brexit scenario planning – I’d encourage all businesses to visit the Chamber website to review this. “You don’t have to be trading with the EU to be affected by Brexit.
It is vital that firms don’t just sit back and wait for Brexit to happen to them. They must take steps now to protect their future.”
A packed house heard from a number of prominent speakers at the Brexit and Trade Conference
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