04 Jun 2024
By Stuart Patrick, Chief Executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce
Last week, our Deputy Chief Executive Richard Muir reflected on the success of the Chamber’s recent trade visit to Southeast Asia which took in both Singapore and Indonesia and explored some of the historical connections Scotland has with one of the fastest growing regions in the world.
Richard emphasized the contribution that so many people and organisations made to the delivery of the trip. Breaking into a new overseas market is rarely simple; it often involves significant initial investment and a long -term commitment to building relationships. The Chamber, acting as a facilitator of trading links, is no exception to this.
Our mission marked my third visit to Southeast Asia within 18 months. We needed to make initial connections with colleagues in the British Chambers of Commerce in Singapore and Indonesia as well as with the local Scottish Development International (SDI) team. Neil McInnes, SDI’s Head of Southeast Asia operations, was a first-class support. We also collaborated with the team at the British High Commission in Singapore. Building confidence in our commitment to a market requires both time and financial investment.
The scale of that commitment is why we have chosen to concentrate on a small number of overseas markets, developing a steady and reliable programme of trade missions. Southeast Asia has now become the sixth market in our top priority list, joining Germany, China, Italy, the United States and the UAE. Why did we choose these markets?
It would be simple to suggest that we chose from the Scottish Government’s own top priority markets. All are listed in its 2019 export plan, Our Trading Nation, which was overseen by the then Minister for Trade, Investment and Innovation and Glasgow MSP, Ivan McKee.
The United States and Germany sit at the top of the table of 15 ‘priority one’ markets which are identified as having the most immediate opportunities. Both China and Italy also feature prominently on this list. Among the ‘priority two’ markets, where opportunities are more medium to long-term, are Singapore, Indonesia and the UAE. Together, these seven countries account for nearly a third of what the action plan describes as the ‘export value gap’, calculated as the difference in the value of Scotland’s exports compared to those of similar competitor nations.
But there are several other reasons we have focused our attention more sharply on these countries. Germany, Italy and China are all countries where Glasgow has civic links through our twinning with Nuremberg, Turin and Dalian respectively. The Chamber also has ties with the British Chambers of Commerce in Germany, Italy and Shanghai. Glasgow partnered with Berlin to deliver the 2018 European Championships and we joined up with Italy in the delivery of COP26.
We have recently established fresh connections with our British Chambers of Commerce colleagues in Abu Dhabi and Dubai following the visit we made to COP28 in the UAE. Our friends at Glasgow Airport have a strong interest in the UAE through Emirates, have a successful relationship with Lufthansa to Frankfurt and are energetically pursuing airlines in the States to re-establish direct links to our biggest trading market. Our universities and colleges are active and successful players in most of our six markets.
Our current trade mission plans for the next six months already involve exchanges with Germany and China, and we will be including visits to the United States and back to Southeast Asia before the end of spring 2025.
It is not especially surprising that Chambers of Commerce are keen on promoting international trade. It has been a central feature of our work for over two centuries. Please keep an eye out for our trade programme and let us know if you have an interest in any of our six markets.
