More UK professionals will be able to provide their services around the world thanks to new government funding to help get UK qualifications recognised overseas.
Grants of up to £75,000 will be awarded to UK regulators and professional bodies as part of the Recognition Arrangements Grant programme. The fund can help them strike deals with counterparts around the world to help make it easier, quicker and cheaper for UK professionals to have their qualifications recognised overseas.
The UK is the world’s second-biggest exporter of services in the world – behind only the US – and the nation’s services exports are currently at a record high.
However, qualifying as an architect, accountant or lawyer in the UK doesn’t generally qualify professionals to practise abroad which means UK companies miss out on opportunities internationally. The Government is therefore pledging £500,000 to help facilitate agreements which can reduce the need for professionals to gain additional qualifications in foreign countries or go through potentially costly and burdensome bureaucracy.
Minister for Trade Policy Greg Hands said: “Obtaining professional qualifications in foreign countries can be expensive and slow for professionals like lawyers and accountants who want to export their world-class services overseas.
“Part of the answer is to secure mutual recognition agreements between the UK and other countries, to acknowledge each other’s professional qualifications.
“This new round of funding will help open new doors for UK-qualified professionals, allowing them and their firms to focus on winning contracts, exporting their expertise abroad and growing their businesses.”
This third round of funding follows previous successful rounds which led to:
- Agreements between the UK’s Financial Reporting Council and their New Zealand and Swiss counterparts for auditors, allowing UK audit firms to sell their services more easily in those countries.
- Work towards arrangements in sectors like legal services, accountancy and architecture with a range of jurisdictions such as Morocco, Hong Kong, and India.
