In this edition
- Consul General's message
- Up coming events
- International Business Forum
- BAB Network Events
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- BAB Network News
- UK/US Trade Updates
- In the news
- Other events of interest
- Resources/ General Interest
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From the British Consulate |
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The start of 2024 has been met with much enthusiasm as we've been excitedly preparing for several upcoming events.
In early March, the Consulate will be in Connecticut, continuing our Great British Roadshow. You can stay up-to-date or follow along by following us on Instagram and Twitter. Our new year's agenda also includes a number of events connected to Northern Ireland. The first will be with Special Envoy to Northern Ireland, Joe Kennedy III, supporting female entrepreneur groups working to connect female founders, local businesses, and venture capital connections. We're also hosting an event with Queen's University Belfast and a cancer therapeutics company that's emerged from the Queen's University Belfast Cancer Center.
Sadly, we are in the final months of working under the leadership of our current Consul General, Dr. Peter Abbott, OBE. We encourage those who attend or participate in our events, to share your well wishes with him, as he prepares to move back to the UK in July 2024.
Thank you for your support and interest over the last year and we hope you'll follow along or join us as we continue our work throughout the New England area!
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250th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party
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January 25, 5:30 pm-11 pm
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Consulate team visiting Beta Technologies |
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Important webinar
Ransomware: Is your company safe? Are you prepared?
In collaboration with the NE Companies for Trade and Women in World Trade
January 30, 2024
12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. EST
Ransomware is a major pocketbook issue that impacts businesses and people from around the globe each year.
In this informational webinar, attendees will gain a better understanding of ransomware attacks including its ever-evolving tactics and trends.
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Our presenter, Linn Freedman, Chair Privacy & Cybersecurity Team at Robinson and Cole, will look at different ways to prevent ransomware attacks on your organization, how to respond if attacked, and will discuss the misconceptions about cyber insurance and its coverage.
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Did you know? The British Library, the national Library of Great Britain, was the victim of a massive cyber attack in October of last year and, for the time being, most of its services are suspended.
Thieves took control of its digital resources and demanded a ransom - in bitcoin - which the library refused to pay. Recovery work is ongoing and while services in the Reading Rooms remain severely limited, the public areas in the
St Pancras building are as busy as ever.
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Food for thought on AI. Guardian Documentary, November 3, 2023
In this new documentary, released to coincide with the UK government's AI Safety Summit,where world leaders met to consider the risks of artificial intelligence, Norwegian filmmaker Tonje Hessen Schei returns to historical interviews made with Ilya Sutskever, the co-founder and chief scientist at OpenAI.
Sutskever describes his personal philosophy behind the science of AI and makes startling predictions for the future. His technology led to the development of ChatGPT.
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30th Annual International Business Forum and Networking Evening
In collaboration with members associations of
the Global Business Alliance of NE (GBANE)
February 27, 2024
(snow date 28)
5:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. - forum
Followed by Networking reception
The event is the planning stages. More details will
be shared as planning progresses.
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Panel discussion will cover:
- Geopolitical/ Economic landscape
- Export/Imports/ Supply Chain
- Sustainability/Climate
- Cybersecurity
- Compliance issues – the practical approach
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You may be interested in viewing the events of the twenty chapters of the British American Business Network. The BABCNE is a founding member of this network.
The complete event list, which is updated monthly, can be accessed on this link: https://babn.org/events/
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BAB's annual Policy Agenda defines a set of priorities developed by leading firms within the network for the year to come and informs BAB's programme and advocacy work on both sides of the Atlantic.
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Policy & Trade Update
January 8, 2024
Last month saw a strong end to the year in the US-UK policy and trade space with a stream of US and UK figures continuing to travel between the two countries. 2024 promises a continuation of the traffic as US and UK officials are eager to fill existing initiatives, such as:
- the Strategic Energy Dialogue,
- the Data and Tech Dialogue,
- the Financial Services Regulatory Working Group,
- the SME Dialogue,
- the Atlantic Declaration, and
- the UK’s State-led trade and investment work with momentum and activity.
Additional anchor events include the SelectUSA Summit in June and the Farnborough International Air Show in July, where we look forward to seeing many transatlantic partners from government and business come together.
Interested to learn more?: Please contact Dominic Parker dparker@babinc.org
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In the news, including US/UK Trade Updates |
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Presidential Proclamation regarding Houthi attacks.
A Joint Statement from the Governments of the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Singapore, and the United Kingdom
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Britain and Switzerland agree wide-ranging financial services trade deal
Reuters, Huw Jones, Noele Illien and John Revill, December 21, 2023
Britain and Switzerland signed a wide-ranging financial services deal on Thursday granting reciprocal market access for their banks, insurers, asset managers and stock exchanges to boost trade and cut compliance costs.
After two years of talks which began after Britain left the European Union, the deal - which will require British and Swiss parliamentary approval - is based on mutual recognition of rules and supervisors, easing regulatory burdens.
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The latest issue of the European Journal of International Law features an article written by Dr. Joris Larik, titled "Imitation as Flattery: The UK's Trade Continuity Agreements and the EU's Normative Foreign Policy."
The article analyzes the United Kingdom's "trade continuity program" after Brexit.
Science X, Janaury 3, 2024
The promise that, once outside the European Union (EU), the UK would strike new, lucrative trade deals continues to be an essential part of the Brexiteers' narrative. What the UK was compelled to do first, however, was to conclude "roll-over" agreements to replace the trade agreements already made by the EU.
In the article, Dr. Larik argues that contrary to expectations, the UK's continuity program should be regarded as a success—for both the UK and the EU. In most cases, the UK managed to replicate to a very large extent the terms initially granted to the EU despite being a smaller market and despite challenging circumstances.
From the EU's perspective, the UK's continuity program can be regarded as a case of successful norm internalization and export. This first chapter of post-Brexit UK trade policy shows that even a country that has left the EU still legally commits itself and its partners to the EU's norms and values.
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A roundup of free trade deals the UK signed
in 2023
City A.M., Jessica Frank-Keyes, December 21, 2023
In July 2023, the UK signed an agreement to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
Since the UK exited the European Union in 2020, a major focus of government policy has been negotiating new trade agreements with nations across the globe.
Speaking at the global investment summit last month, business and trade secretary Kemi Badenoch said she wanted the UK to be seen as a “dynamo for investment, free trade and growth”.
While work is still underway on securing deals with the USA and India, among others, there have been some successes this year, from the Australia and New Zealand deals taking effect, to the UK signing up to the CPTPP agreement.
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Saving the Panama Canal will take years and cost billions, if it’s even possible
AJOT, Peter Millard and Michael D McDonald, January 3, 2024
The vestiges of an ancient forest tell the story of just how bad things are at the drought-stricken Panama Canal.
A few hundred feet from the massive tankers hauling goods across the globe, gaunt tree stumps rise above the waterline. They’re all that remains of a woodland flooded more than a century ago to create the canal. It’s not unusual to see them at the height of the dry season — but now, in the immediate aftermath of what’s usually the rainy period, they should be fully submerged.
They’re a visible reminder of how parched conditions have crippled a waterway that handles $270 billion a year in global trade. And there are no easy solutions.
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President Biden Announces New Actions to Strengthen America’s
Supply Chains
ITA Strategic Partner Newsletter, December 13, 2023
On November 27th, President Biden established the new White House Council on Supply Chain Resilience, which will be co-chaired by the National Security Advisor and National Economic Advisor and will include the Commerce Secretary. President Biden also announced nearly 30 new actions to strengthen supply chains critical to America’s economic and national security. These actions include new cross-governmental supply chain data-sharing capabilities.
The Department of Commerce’s new, first-of-its-kind Supply Chain Center is one of these cross-government partnerships to improve supply chain monitoring and strategy.
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Global Trade: 5 Emerging Dynamics Will Shape The Next Decade
The world trade map is being redrawn as global growth slows and regional links deepen, according to a new BCG report.
BF Business Facilities/ Boston Consulting Group, January 10, 2024
As the global economy adjusts to persistent economic and geopolitical pressures and disruptions, the familiar routes that defined the world trade map are being redrawn and regional trade lanes are playing a greater role in world trade, according to a new analysis by Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
“This is a not a blip. These changes in trade patterns are reshaping the global economy. Companies need to be thoughtful and decisive, or risk being caught out by fast-moving factors outside of their control.”
— Michael McAdoo, BCG
The changing trade picture shows that overall global trade is growing at a slower rate than the world economy, a fundamental shift away from the trend of trade-led globalism that the world enjoyed in most of the years since the end of the Cold War. World trade in goods is forecast to grow at 2.8% per year, on average, through 2032, compared with an estimated 3.1% growth rate for global GDP in the same period, according to the report.
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Mass Export Center's Export Expo
January 25 & 26, 2024
Join us for the Export Expo – the state’s largest and most important export event of the year that brings together resources, training and information for the local exporting community.
The Massachusetts Export Center’s Export Expo provides a forum for exporters to connect with the wide range of export resources available in Massachusetts while learning about issues that impact their day-to-day operations.
To learn more, please visit: https://www.msbdc.org/export/expo/
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British Baroque, NEC's Jordan Hall
February 2 & 4, 2024
What is the true meaning of home? This bold collection of works by composers of the British Baroque—be they British by birth, choice, or force—will enrapture and enliven while answering that perennial question.
H+H collaborator Reginald Mobley and renowned Baroque violinist Rachel Podger co-curated this assortment of British delights, including something for everyone: Alongside familiar favorites from Purcell and Handel, discover a long under-recognized voice in Ignatius Sancho, a composer who was enslaved at birth yet became the first Black man to vote in a British election.
Did you know? Baroque music of the British Isles, bridged the gap between the early music of the Medieval and Renaissance periods and the development of fully fledged and formalised orchestral classical music in the second half of the eighteenth century.
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In case you missed it in 2023 |
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GBANE 29th Annual Business forum
"Open for Business"
held on April 5, 2023
International diplomats posted in Boston, made the case for trade, investment and partnership opportunities with their countries. Doug Banks, Executive Editor, BBJ moderated the conversation which was followed by a networking reception.
Representing their countries were (R-L):
o Peter Abbott OBE, British Consul General
o Rodger Cuzner, Consul General of Canada
o Alberto Fierro Garza, Consul General of Mexico
o Michael Jürgens, Deputy Consul General of Germany
o Mustafa Soykurt, Consul General of France
o Kotaro Suzuki, Consul General of Japan
The event was sold out, with over 200 attending. Please save the date for the 30th business forum to be held on February 27, 2024. BBJ Article
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Resources/ General interest |
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Discover the US Department of Commerce interactive country reports by Industry & Analysis, offering valuable macroeconomic statistics for more than 230+ trading partners on an annual basis.
This interactive report can be used to get information on global economies, trade statistics, and foreign direct investment. Gain insights into the health and performance of their economies, explore the magnitude of global trade, and analyze foreign direct investment trends with the United States.
Whether you're a business, student, or public leader, these reports are an essential resource. Download, share, and gain a comprehensive understanding of international markets!
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Travel Tips for Long Flights. Here’s What You Need to Know
Time, Mallory Moench, December 21, 2023
From what you should wear to how you can make an economy seat more comfortable, here are travel tips to get you through your next long flight.
How do I prepare my body for flying?
Jeff Kahn, CEO of the sleep tracker app Rise Science, told Condé Nast Traveler that the best way to ensure you travel and sleep well is to start a trip with “low sleep debt.” A few days ahead of a long-haul trip, you could also begin gradually adjusting your sleep times so that you’re more in-sync with the time zone of your destination.
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Note! Be #TravelAware in the UK and USA
IS YOUR PASSPORT UP TO DATE? You need at least three months validity to enter the UK... and renewal wait times are lengthy, so be prepared!
Sign up for alerts @FCDOtravelGovUK and @TravelGov
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BABCNE SOCIAL MEDIA
We invite you to follow us, post on our pages and build your network among our community.
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BABCNE Mission: To foster business development and networking opportunities between the United Kingdom and New England.
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