More than 1,000 business leaders will today attend the today’s UK Trade and Export Finance Forum to discuss ways of reducing financial barriers to exporting.
Hosted in London by UK Export Finance, the largest-ever event of its kind welcomes speakers from the CBI, British Chambers of Commerce, and Invest in Women Taskforce. Workshops will discuss overseas opportunities and how government and private sector can collaborate to help a wider range of businesses to export.
Gareth Thomas, Minister for Exports, said: “UKEF plays a key part in this government’s central mission to go further and faster to deliver economic growth across the country. Their support has led to projects in dozens of countries around the world, supporting jobs, boosting wages and increased investment into the UK.
“Supporting small firms and supercharging exports are at the very core of that growth mission, because we know that when more SMEs trade around the world, it boosts the whole economy.”
In the 2023-24 financial year, UKEF backing for businesses contributed £3.3 billion to the UK economy and supported up to 41,000 jobs across the country, securing export deals to 45 territories, increasing the availability of overseas contract opportunities for British businesses.
A majority of businesses seeking UKEF support and attending the conference are SMEs. Export finance support complements other actions which the government is taking to support SMEs, like measures tackling the scourge of late payments, the launch of a Business Growth Service, and trade agreements generating new opportunities.
