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Message From
The Chair |
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Welcome to 2010. I hope
that you all had time for some relaxation and
time to spend with loved ones over the Christmas
and New Year
period.
As I sat down to write this
Chair’s Message the words to that well known
song by Nina Simone sprang to mind – ‘it’s a new
dawn, it’s a new day’ – the question is ‘are we
feeling good?’
As is usual there is a lot of
hedging of bets as to what 2010/11 has to
offer.
Ernst & Young this month reported
that the economy had moved out of a decade of
debt and was now in a decade of painful
readjustment. It
admitted that businesses were more optimistic
and that it was anticipated that the UK would
come out of recession by the time the GDP
figures were released later this month. It did
however have a sting in the tale in that we were
being lulled into a false sense of security
brought about as a result of the car scrappage
scheme and VAT increase.
Following on from that it was forecast
GDP would have difficulty reaching 1 per cent
this year with interest rates remaining
flat.
However with every cloud there
is always a silver lining and in this case it
was that Ernst & Young reported that ‘the
only real bright spot in its forecast was that
it saw exports rebuilding sharply after the
falls of early
2009.
For those of us in the front
line of export I believe we could have told them
that.
We hope those in ‘government’ are
listening because it is those who innovate,
diversify and nurture and seek new markets that
will ensure we not only gain back our place
within the global market, but surpass
it.
Deborah
Leary OBE
MWTF
Chair
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Intatrade joins MWTF
board |
|
 IntaTrade is a
specialist joint venture partnering service,
which helps companies achieve their objectives
of internationalisation beyond exporting.
Services provided include advice on routes to
market, setting up joint ventures and other
overseas investment related activities for
West Midlands
businesses. MWTF has strengthened its
expertise in this area by inviting Hari Rai to
join the board.
Click here
to find out
more.
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Translate your website to
improve overseas
sales |
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  Two-thirds of the planet
does not speak English as its native
language.
In business, our nation is increasingly
considered to be disrespectful in assuming that
our mother tongue is acceptable to all and
surveys have shown that people are four times
more likely to buy from you if your website is
available in their
language.
Click
here
to read more about the reasons why you should
consider translating your
website.
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Join us on the MWTF
'Linked-In'
Group |
|
 By
joining our Linked-In Group you will have
the opportunity to initiate or participate
in discussions on export issues.
We will
also keep you posted on news items related to
international trade.
Click here
to get
linked
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News from ECGD |
 ECGD's
recently launched Letter of Credit Guarantee
Scheme will be of help to companies
trading with certain countries.
The
intention of this scheme is to encourage the
banks to make more short term export
finance available by sharing the risk that they
take on when confirming LC's (Letters of
Credit).
Click here
to read more and to see which banks have already
signed up to the scheme and which markets are
covered.
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Member Profile
- Cobra
Automotive |
Cobra were welcomed to MWTF as member
no. 500 back in 2006 as they signed up to
participate in UKTI’s Passport to Export
programme.
After unprecedented growth and receiving
numerous business awards, a year ago the company
was gripped by the global economic downturn and
order books fell dramatically, but they are now
fighting back to beat the recession and are on
course to increase turnover by at least 70 per
cent this year.
To read the
full Cobra Automotive story click here. |
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New Members
9 companies have joined the
Forum since our last newsletter.
Click Here for a
full Who`s Who
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Thank you for taking the time
to read our latest newsletter - if you have
any comments or
contributions please
let me
know
Glenis
Poletti
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Make
International Trade Work For
You | |
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