From right to left: English Consul General Mohammed Shokat, Deputy Head of Delegation and UKTI International Trade Sector Adviser Leslie Plant, Head of the Delegation and UKTI International Trade Adviser Rosalind Marsh and Head of UKTI Michael Cockle. Roberta Fedele Saudi Gazette
JEDDAH – Renowned for being very active in helping UK-based companies to export their know how in the Kingdom, the UK Trade and Investment Organization (UKTI), supported by the British Consulate General, organized the visit of a multi-sector business delegation comprising 17 small and medium sized companies from the South East of England that are eager to showcase their innovative products, gain an understanding of the local market, meet potential clients and develop long-lasting and mutually beneficial partnerships. The delegation, headed by UKTI International Trade Adviser Rosalind Marsh and UKTI International Trade Sector Adviser for Healthcare and Bioscience Leslie Plant, is on a five –day visit (Feb. 2 – 6) to Jeddah and the Eastern Province. Delegates, who already had the chance to attend networking receptions at the British Consulate General, Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) and Dar Hekma College, are currently visiting Saudi Aramco. “We are keen to ensure that people in the UK are aware of the opportunities offered by the Saudi market. Instead of bringing a sector-specific delegation, we decided this time to focus on a region. All our delegates are from the South East of the UK and are willing to support the expansion of the Kingdom's social welfare with their high-quality and advanced technologies and services,” said British Consul General Mohammed Shokat. The wide range of companies represented by the mission share a common potential of addressing some of the Kingdom's development priorities particularly in the healthcare, security and education and training sectors. The offer in the medical sector encompasses training services and high-tech medical devices such as training manikins and anatomical models, bariatric products for obesity-related problems, disposables for radiation therapy, modern scanners, advanced software enabling much more accurate and faster cancer diagnosis and accredited courses for nurse training. “We are very exited by the opportunity of being part of this mission, meet people locally and test our products on the market,” said Niven Smith, manager of Envirotec, a company that provides structural radiation shielding for the medical, construction and engineering sectors. Particularly interesting and useful is also a new airline seat for disabled children by the Medical Engineering Resource Unit (MERU), a charity association that has developed a range of unusual and highly specialist equipment helping disabled children to participate more fully in society. “The ‘TravelChair' is the very first product of this kind in the world. In Jeddah, we visited various aviation companies and help centers that showed a keen interest in the product,” said MERU TravelChair Designer Graham Race. Other healthcare companies included Adam Rouilly, Benmor Medical, DPS Global Healthcare, Gama Healthcare and Mirada Medical. “Small and medium sized companies represent the bigger universe in the market and are the ones that need a little bit more of guidance to understand the difference between operating in the UK and Saudi business environment,” said Plant. “For this reason, UKTI is fully engaged to help UK companies also by matching them up individually with enterprises or government ministries and institutions that would be interested in their specific products,” he added. This is particularly the case of enterprises in the safety and security sector that, a part from following the mission's official program of visits, will also hold private meetings with potential clients. These companies include AerGlow, Firetrace International, Haes Systems and Surrey Satellite Technology. AeroGlow Business Development Manager Keith White explained his company's advanced systems to avoid accidents for military vehicles and to provide survivability solutions in case of emergency situations. “Thanks to its newly elaborated Hatch Lighting and Vehicle Orientation System (HaLo), AeroGlow is the first company to install lighting and orientation systems, that are usually provided only on helicopters and aircrafts, within armored fighting vehicles. “Orientation plays an essential role in favoring for instance underwater survival. After a couple of incidents took place in Afghanistan, that saw soldiers drowning in the back of their vehicles, further researches were promoted on ways to mitigate post accidents' risks and we decided to produce a system capable of addressing this need,” he added. The mission also comprised Education and training providers such as Atlas Consulting, Armfield, Kingston University and Leadership 5000 looking for partnerships with Saudi educational institutions and private companies. Other companies include Turner & Townsend, a leading global consultancy with expertise in natural resources, infrastructure and property management and P H Warr plc, a leading provider of property and construction surveying services.
