World trade a bright spot
THE economic downturn is having a significant impact on the North East economy yet, despite a fall in exports at the end of last year, the region’s international trade performance is still one of the few bright spots.
Total value of goods exported from the North East for all of 2008 was £11.2bn - a 17.7% increase on the previous year’s total of £9.5bn. This compared to an average UK growth of 12.4%.
The figures did fall in the last quarter, which was not entirely unexpected. However, our performance is still something to be proud of, and as the credit crunch continues to bite it’s more important than ever for companies to look at new markets.
Research shows that firms which export are more resilient. Our challenge is to ensure that businesses know that help is at hand for North East companies wanting to navigate out of the downturn by seeking out new business opportunities overseas.
UK Trade and Investment can help companies find the markets that can make all the difference. Nationally, a recent survey confirmed UKTI had helped 20,700 companies, 90% of them small and medium-size.
And it’s estimated our support helped them generate an additional £3.6bn of profit.
Our efforts got a further boost in the Budget, when it was announced an extra £10m would be spent over the next two years to help more companies export and attract inward investment.
While the North East continues to perform well in international markets, the actual number of companies that export is small and most of our exports come from relatively few industries such as the automotive, chemical, biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors.
We want to encourage more companies to take up the export challenge, widen the range of goods and services that are exported and broaden the number of markets they are involved with.
Virtually any company can export and UKTI is here to help every step of the way with a dedicated team of international trade advisers to offer expert help.
This includes access to a wide range of services from Passport to Export to the Overseas Market Introduction Service (OMIS) - all designed to help companies reach new markets.
For more information phone 0845 05 05 054, e-mail enquiries@ukti.rito.co.uk or log onto www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk/ukti/north_east.
David Coppock is UK Trade and Investment’s international trade director
