Member Article

Mike Blackburn on Malaysia and the North West

BT recently unveiled the fruits of a significant investment in Malaysia on the opening of a global shared service facility, with the help of UK Trade and Investment (UKTI).

Speaking before a trade mission that went out to Malaysia on Friday, Mike Blackburn, vice president for strategy and planning at BT Global Services and chairman of the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), spoke about how improved connectivity in Malaysia and the North West is a foundation for growing exports.

“The focus points in Malaysia correspond with [the North West’s] focus points. So their focus on aerospace, SMEs, healthcare, IT and digital creative, and advanced manufacturing.

“I think the one that surprised me is that professional services comes through quite strongly. Those are seven sectors which every part of the North West economy is built upon.

“Compared to other parts of the UK I think we’ve got a really close-knit bunch of companies who could really take advantage in Malaysia by connecting to sell things there are connecting to bring things back into the UK.

“The whole point of rolling out the broadband ‘hotspots’ and the wifi connections helps businesses think of doing business anywhere in the world. It opens up your market.

“I think modern communications means the world markets are now open to you, in any shape or form. It also means that you’re globally attractive to other businesses around the world.”

“The other thing we haven’t touched on is the universities in the North West. The universities are hugely connected internationally.

“We always think of them on the ‘teaching’ side, but we also have to think of the research and development side, and their business startup side.

“The way they take R&D right through to exploitation, and the universities in the North West, all of them, but particularly Manchester, Lancaster and Liverpool, as well as MMU [Manchester Metropolitan University] and Salford, are fantastic at supporting startups, and then using their alumni connections and their international connections to help that as well.

“The way I’d describe [our relationship with Malaysia] is, it’s emerging but opportunistic. In Malaysia the Government and agencies have put in place the business connections and organisations to allow for foreign investment from anywhere, and the Governement relationships now are really encouraging.

“They focus on their regional activity, they focus on what they’re good at and how business can help and support. Making it business friendly is just huge, and now it’s up to us as businesses in the North West to take advantage of that.

“I think over the next seven years, their ambition for 2020 is critical. If we don’t take advantage the Americans will, or the Germans will, the French will, so we’ve got to do it.”

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