Annex
Letter to Susan Haird, Chief Executive
Officer, UK Trade & Investment, from Larry Stone, President
Group Public & Government Affairs, BT Group plc
I wanted to write about a possible misunderstanding
on one specific point which arose from the otherwise very helpful
discussion when the BIS Select Committee visited BT in Beijing
recently.
BT does focus on sales to multi-national companies
and major national corporates outside the UK through our Global
Services Division. We tend to contract outside of China for these
clients for business and regulatory reasons. China does not have
a fully liberalised communications market and we act largely via
local partners for delivery of services to our MNC and corporate
customers.
I understand that we were asked how and if, including
via our Beijing customer technology showcase, BT might help to
support UK SMEs looking to operate in the Chinese market. We do
not sell lCT services to SMEs in China, but Kevin Taylor (our
President AsiaPac) and his team would be delighted to act as a
sort of UK-to-China bridge in our sector. We might offer—along
with other companies—some advice and guidance.
Please do let me know if this would be helpful. A
copy of this letter goes to Qin li at the UK Embassy in Beijing.
22 March 2011
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