Member Article

North East trade mission heads to India

Hot on the heels of Prime Minister Cameron, the North East Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC) is leading a week long UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) supported mission to India.

Accompanied by twenty businessmen from ten of the regions process sector companies, the group will be meeting organisations in the Dahej, Vapi and Mumbai regions to establish business links and promote the Northeast as a place for investment.

The trade mission is building upon Cluster to Cluster relationships developed by NEPIC, now viewed throughout Asia as a major European business cluster organisation, with the Industry Associations based in Vapi, the State of Gujarat and elsewhere in India.

Relations with Indian counterparts have deepened such that NEPIC has worked in partnership with the Indian Chemical Council to organise the 6th Annual Indian Chemical Industry Outlook Conference in Mumbai. Commencing on the 7th March, the two day conference will be attended by over 100 industry CEOs from India and around the world.

The conference, which is focusing upon future challenges and opportunities for growth, features a special CEOs round table to discuss top level issues facing the industry going forward. Huge international companies such as Reliance, Tata, United Phosphorous, Dow, DuPont and BASF will be represented.

Ian Swales MP for Redcar, whose constituency is a significant location for the UK process industry, is joining the NEPIC trade mission. Ian is Chair of the all-party parliamentary group for the chemical industry.

Before heading out to India Mr Swales said “I will be encouraging Indian companies to trade with UK companies, particularly those from Northeast England, as well as urging them to consider the UK as a place for their future investments.

“I am taking a message of support for the chemical sector from my Parliamentary and Government colleagues and will advise our Indian hosts that we can and will help them to establish businesses in the UK.”.

The northeast companies travelling with the mission cover a broad spectrum of business types, interested in developing business in chemical manufacture as well as engineering, logistics and other technical and legal support services.

In addition, representatives from the universities of Teesside and Newcastle will be present to develop links to educational institutions, in order to develop international studentships, distance learning and collaborative research opportunities.

Dr Stan Higgins CEO of NEPIC commented on the trip and the clusters involvement in the regions international trade activities:

“We are grateful to UKTI for the support we have received for this mission, both at home and in India. Through our involvement with UKTI, we are able to be part of the support mechanism for SMEs in our region, that enable then to begin exporting and seeking out new markets.

“In fact, we have been doing such work for several years. One of the SMEs travelling with cluster has already developed £3m of new business in India as a result of introductions NEPIC facilitated through its India partners.

“Our involvement with UKTI we are also using our experience as a sector organisation to help other sectors in the Northeast England organise their own market visits. I encourage all companies with export ideas to talk to their local UKTI international trade advisors, as they can link businesses to the many trade missions that are being planned.”

Stan concluded “Going to a new market with an experienced sector group is the best way of getting started as many supportive relationships are already in place.”

Why India?

Globally the output of the chemical industry has grown substantially over the last 10 years and now amounts to £2.6tn. In this time European chemical manufacturing has also continued to grow - from £260bn to £530bn.

The UK is still the 5th largest manufacturer of chemicals in Europe generating sales of £70bn. However, Europe’s overall position in the world ranking has fallen, with its share of world production dropping from 36 per cent to 20 per cent.

The decline is ultimately due to the huge expansion in the manufacture and consumption of chemicals in the new and emerging economies, such as China, India and other BRIC countries.

Such huge growth cannot be ignored and is why NEPIC is urging its members and UK manufacturers, as well as those in the supply chain of the process industries, to look to these huge new economies as an opportunity to expand their businesses and become exporters.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by NEPIC .