Pictured above: Miles Templeman
The head of the Institute of Directors has urged West Midlands
businesses to improve the region's record on exports, and in
particular look to such markets as China, India and the Middle East
for future growth.
Miles Templeman made his comments at Exporting for Success, a
special conference organised by IoD West Midlands in conjunction
with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales.
It brought together senior figures from across the region and from
all business sectors to hear speakers from the UK Trade and
Investment (UKTI) and the China-Britain Business Council as well as
business leaders who were already operating successfully
overseas.
In his address, Miles remarked that the modern description of
China and India as 'emerging' markets was a misleading one: on his
own recent visits to India and China he had found countries that
were fully-fledged players in the global economy, and in Shanghai a
city that would have an impact on younger business leaders akin to
that of New York on his own generation in the 1970s and '80s.
With economic growth still slow throughout Europe, West Midlands
businesses had to leave the comfort zone of exporting to the EU and
set their horizons further, he said. India and China's burgeoning
middle class was a ready-made market for quality British goods and
while there were risks and costs associated with exporting, the
risk of not tackling these markets had far more serious
implications.
Despite strong cultural links with both countries, other
European nations were leaving Britain behind in establishing trade
links, and we could not afford to allow this to continue.
Miles praised the Coalition Government's ambitious plans to use
British embassy and consular officials to establish stronger trade
links overseas, a point backed by Robin Barnett of UKTI who also
addressed the conference. A former Ambassador to Rumania, Robin
highlighted the extensive network of business support mechanisms
available both at home and abroad through UKTI and our diplomatic
bodies overseas, and urged businesses to make full use of them.
Other speakers included Phil Coleman of RSM Tenon, who offered
conference delegates specialised exporting advice, and two firms
who were already trading globally, Metallisation and Advance Track
Outsourcing.