The Secretary of State for International Trade, MP, will lead major delegations to
London Tech Week this week from countries as far afield as
Australia, Brazil, China, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, the
UAE and the US to showcase Britain’s innovative tech firms and
drive investment into the UK at Europe’s largest tech summit.
Investors are expected to descend upon the capital city,
representing billions of pounds of investment into the UK.
Global tech firms including Google, Microsoft, Amazon and
Facebook will join major international delegations led by the
Department for International Trade (DIT) including over 300
delegates from China to participate in Europe’s largest
technology gathering. They will join UK firms showcasing British
innovation in smart cities technology, artificial intelligence
(AI) and fintech, in an effort to attract more international
investment and commercial partnerships with global firms.
Delegates expected include businesses and government
representatives from 5 cities and provinces including Beijing,
Shanghai, Shandong, Shanxi and Guizhou. 90 representatives are
expected to attend from Australia, including 30 Australian tech
start-ups, alongside over 80 delegates from Latin America and 40
delegates from North America including, Denver, Austin, Colorado
and Toronto which includes senior representatives from their
Boards of Trade. Some of the businesses coming as part of the
delegation include LG Innotek and Chunghwa Telecoms.
The Prime Minister announced in her speech today (Monday 10 June)
that the International Trade Secretary will also be responsible
for leading four new regional trade missions, each focused on the
Government’s Industrial Strategy Grand Challenges. The first four
of these will take place this year and act as a catalyst for
sustained international engagement on issues of trade, cutting
edge research and the future of public policy with international
partners around the world. The missions will be supported by the
department’s international network.
Speaking at the start of London Tech Week, the Secretary of State
for International Trade, MP said:
The UK is a global hub for tech businesses and remains one of
the world’s top destinations for tech investment and foreign
investment globally.
London Tech Week is a brilliant opportunity to fly the flag for
British tech on a global stage, and I’m proud to be leading
such a strong delegation of international investors to showcase
Britain’s cutting-edge innovation in sectors like AI and drive
investment into our world leading industry.
The success of the UK’s tech industry will be critical to our
economic prosperity now and for years to come, so I am
committed to supporting this sector, as we move towards leaving
the EU.
The Department is seeking to strengthen the UK’s position as the
leading destination for tech investment in the EU and firmly
establish ‘Silicon UK’. London currently ranks as the number one
destination for tech and venture capital investment in Europe,
attracting £6.3 billion in venture capital investment in 2018,
more than any other European country. Forbes’ 2018 report also
named the UK the best place to do business in the world.
During Tech Week, DIT will be partnering with a number of
organisations including London & Partners, PwC and EY on
events including deep dive sessions on ‘scaling up’ in the UK,
speed dating events for small businesses with venture capital
investors and networking receptions for businesses looking to set
up operations in the UK.
DIT will also welcome some of the world’s biggest technology
companies to Lancaster House on Tuesday (11 June) for speeches on
and discussion of the future of the sector. They will be joined
by international tech entrepreneurs looking to set up their
businesses in the UK and UK firms looking to expand overseas.
