APPENDIX 50
Memorandum submitted by UKTI
PROSPERITY IN A CHANGING WORLD STRATEGY UPDATE
OVERVIEW
UKTI is pressing ahead with implementation of
its new Strategy. Work is progressing well on all key workstreams.
Delivery is overseen and monitored by a Strategy Implementation
Board. Our new structure is now also in place. By March 2007 some
90% of our people will be in the front line overseas, in the English
regions, or in customer facing service delivery in our main London
and Glasgow offices. Whilst co-ordinating and driving forward
this strategy across Government, we continue to deliver to our
existing customers through a range of services and programmes
including our flagship "Passport to Export" Programme
and Tradeshow Access Programme (TAP).
STRATEGIC MARKETING
EXERCISE
As part of UKTI's new Strategy, we committed
to develop a new overarching proposition for the UK economy. Drawing
from the UK's many strengths, our objective from the outset was
to develop a new framework that would join up our trade and investment
messaging and showcase a fresh, dynamic, confident and world-class
proposition to our target audience. A launch is planned for March
2007.
CITY STRATEGY
The Chancellor's High Level City group has endorsed
UKTI's City Strategy. This was developed in partnership with leading
financial sector bodies from London, the devolved administrations
and the English regions. The new Financial Services Sector Advisory
Board (FSSAB) met for first time on 11 December. Progress to date
includes:
— A promotional brochure and website,
jointly produced with key stakeholders (ThinkLondon, IFSL and
the Corporation)—are on target for release late March/early
April.
— Dedicated strategies for India and
China will be presented to FSSAB for formal approval on 15 February.
— New diplomatic positions dedicated
to financial services, have been created in Mumbai, Beijing and
Shanghai.
— In November 2006 International Financial
Services London (IFSL) was nominated as UKTI's delivery partner
for the City Strategy.
— The Advisory Board is likely to start
developing specific lines of work, such as the creation of an
Islamic Finance sub-group and to devise a strategy for Islamic
Finance.
SECTORS
Similar strategies will be drawn up this year
in a further four key sectors: ICT, Life Sciences, Creative Industries
and Energy. These strategies will illustrate UK sectoral strengths,
gaps, key messages, channels to market, activity plans, targets
and marketing and promotional initiatives. The strategies will
be supported by high quality promotional material, to target specific
overseas business sectors and individual companies on the basis
of core messages about relevant UK strengths and to assist UK
companies in selling themselves overseas.
MINISTERIAL OVERSEAS
VISITS COMMITTEE
Businesses told us that they value the visits
that Ministers undertake on their behalf. In order to ensure that
the UK derives maximum benefit from these visits, the Strategy
committed UKTI to establish a co-ordination mechanism for inward
and outward visits. In mid-December, Ian McCartney chaired the
first meeting of the cross-Whitehall Overseas Ministerial Visits
Coordination Committee, with representatives from 15 Whitehall
Departments. The committee agreed an outline mechanism to coordinate
high level outward and inward visits, by Ministers and senior
government officials. The proposed mechanism should ensure that
future visits will:
— allow for better targeting and timing
in order to increase the impact for the UK economy;
— have greater continuity and linkage
between visits, for example by recording follow-up actions and
outcomes after each visit and the dissemination of these actions
to the next visiting Minister or official;
— ensure that each market has a standardised
brief outlining Government priorities for that market; and
— ensure follow-up actions from the
previous visit are taken forward.
R&D PROGRAMME
As part of its five-year Strategy, UKTI is developing
initiatives to attract more business R&D to the UK, building
on the UK's undoubted strengths in this area and to help UK based
R&D intensive companies to internationalise. The evidence
is that overseas companies view the UK positively as an R&D
centre, but do not have precision on the available opportunities,
nor on how to enter the market. UKTI initiatives have been set
up to overcome this. We have now appointed private sector specialist
support for several of our key areas of work. This includes Sector
Specialists, High Growth Markets, and our Global Partnerships
& Global Entrepreneurs programmes as well as the R&D Programme
to identify R&D to help attract inward activity; and UK based
companies with which we can work. In addition, two R&D Programme
pilot projects are now underway, for targeting overseas companies.
HIGH GROWTH
MARKETS
Additional resources for the high-growth markets
have been identified and the rollout of the additional positions
in Posts in these markets (including Mumbai, Shanghai and Beijing)
is already underway. Recruitment of 15 Business Advisors, to focus
on medium-sized companies with potential to succeed in high-growth
markets, is also underway.
Joint Economic and Trade Committees (JETCO),
or equivalents are delivering real progress. The India JETCO has
already delivered liberalisation of air services and the Indian
Finance Minister has introduced a Bill to raise the foreign investment
cap in insurance to 49% (up from 26%). The Government of India
have agreed to provide a more targeted breakdown of project details
for their approved US$350 billion infrastructure schemes and invite
UK participation. As a result of the Brazil JETCO a joint statement
was issued including 15 recommendations for future action including
support for ratification of Brazil/UK agreement on taxation of
air transport and shipping. China's recently announced banking
regulations allow foreign banks to incorporate locally and offer
full renminbi services throughout China. The China JETC has also
agreed to set up additional working groups on healthcare and logistics.
RDAS
We are working closely with the RDAs on the
joint Reviews of the UK regions' overseas presence and of UKTI's
trade operations in the English regions. Our aim is to complete
both Reviews earlier than the March 2008 Strategy commitment.
The RDAs are also being involved in the development and implementation
of the R&D and High Growth Markets Programmes, City of London/Financial
Services Strategy, and with Marketing the UK. On 20 June we are
planning the first annual summit with the RDAs (and the Devolved
Administrations' development agencies) to review progress in delivering
prosperity on the basis of the Strategy.
UKTI'S NEW
STRUCTURE
UKTI's new structure is in place. It comprises
five distinct Groups with the following areas of responsibility:
Sectors Group—strategic and political
assistance to UK business in key sectors in their pursuit of overseas
opportunities Business Group—UKTI's new client facing group
responsible for delivery of our product portfolio across trade
and investment using national and regional delivery teams.
International Group—policy on globalisation
and high-growth markets and management of UKTI's resources overseas.
Marketing—overall responsibility
for the marketing messages and materials.
Corporate Affairs—strategy, cross-cutting
policy, business planning, performance management and evaluation,
financial management, human resources and IT systems.
PROPOSED NEW
TARGETS
We continue to deliver our existing Public Service
Agreement (PSA) targets. We are in discussion with Treasury on
UKTI's new set of high-level targets. These are due to be implemented
from April 2007.
EVALUATION AND
PERFORMANCE MONITORING
PROGRAMME
Through our Performance and Impact Monitoring
Survey (PIMS), we now have in place a monitoring survey that provides
us with a robust economic evaluation of the services we provide.
This is an independently monitored client interview based system
undertaken for UKTI by OMB Research, a market research company
specialising in business surveys.
We also continue to strengthen the evidence
for the economic rationale for the work UKTI undertakes and to
assess value for money for the taxpayer. For example, research
carried out during 2006-07 looked at the work of UKTI's Trade
Advisers in the English Regions. Their report estimates that the
services provided by UKTI International Trade Teams produce a
benefit cost ratio of 25:1. This represents good value for money
and compares favourably with the 17:1 benefit cost ratio demonstrated
in the 2005 Relative Benefits Study, for all UKTI trade development
services. The full report, along with a short document setting
out UKTI's response to the evaluation recommendations, are publicly
available on the UKTI website.
Additionally, new research undertaken for UKTI
found that 60% of productivity growth over the period 1996 to
2004 was achieved by UK exporters despite these being a minority
of UK businesses overall.
CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP
MANAGEMENT (CRM)
We have embarked on a significant IT programme
to implement a central electronic CRM system to improve customer
service and give us better management information. Deployment
of CRM is planned to take place in a phased manner between December
2006 and Autumn 2007, initially to 48 overseas markets with parallel
rollout to the English regions and our service delivery staff
in our main London and Glasgow offices.
UKTI'S WEBSITE
We have continued to develop the UKTI website
as a means of providing our customers with personalised information
including sector and country profiles, event details, contacts
for and advice to new exporters and information about UKTI services.
UK businesses can sign up to receive value-added Business Opportunities
and detailed sector-in-country reports. As at 15 January 2007
the website had over 16,000 active registered business customers.
January 2007
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