Emerging powers

11 September 2013

 

EMERGING POWERS

1. The world is changing – economic and political power is rapidly shifting.

2. The English language, education and the arts are vital factors in the UK’s global appeal.

3. We are prioritising our resources to meet the huge demand for English, education and the arts in countries that are rapidly growing in economic and geopolitical importance.

 

The world is changing

•             The world is changing – economic and political power is rapidly shifting. The development and maintenance of strong relationships beyond our traditional allies and trading partners is essential for the UK’s economic success and strategic interests.

•             Countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and South America are undergoing dramatic economic growth that offers immense opportunities for UK businesses.

•             G20 economies such as Brazil, China, India, South Africa and Turkey are important growth markets for the UK at a time when traditional markets are stagnant or contracting.

 

The UK’s appeal

•             We share the rich cultural assets of the UK with the rest of the world. The English language, the arts and education provide opportunities to build trust globally.

•             Our creative industries and educational sectors are recognised as global leaders. We promote UK artists, educational institutions and businesses globally to build trust for the UK.

•             We have been playing an active role in most emerging powers for decades and have already developed trust and countless deep and lasting relationships for the UK.

•             Our work builds strong links between people in the UK and people in the places that will matter most for the UK’s future prosperity.

 

Prioritising our resources to meet the huge demand for our work

•             There is huge global demand for English and UK culture and education. This is particularly strong in rapidly growing economies, where skills training and economic diversification are recognised as essential to long-term prosperity.

•             We are focusing our resources on building cultural relations with important high-growth economies: the ‘BRICS’ (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa); the ‘Next Eleven’ (Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Turkey, South Korea, and Vietnam); and other strategically important economies such as Colombia, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. These will be the critical partners for the UK’s future prosperity and security.

 

FACTS

We have a long history of engagement and an established presence in decisive markets for the UK. For example, we opened our offices in Turkey in 1940, Mexico in 1943, Indonesia in 1948, and South Korea in 1973. Our largest overseas operations are in China and India, with more than 300 staff members in each country, working across four and five premises respectively.

In 2012, we launched UK Now, the largest festival of UK arts and culture ever held in China. Events took place in 29 cities across China, including Hong Kong and Macao, and featured almost 800 UK artists performing across 166 venues. More than four million people attended events and millions more participated through the website and social media channels.

In Brazil, we have initiated a major four-year arts programme, ‘Transform’, to coincide with the Olympic handover from the UK to Brazil. We have also used sport to help young people increase their citizenship skills, community engagement and self-esteem. In partnership with the UK’s Youth Sport Trust and the Ministry of Sports, we have brought specialist training to more than one million young people. The programme has been so successful that the ministry has extended it with a goal of reaching more than 45,000 schools and an estimated 13.5 million children.

We work with more than 60 South Korean higher education institutions to highlight the opportunities in the UK for study and education partnership.

We are supporting more than 60,000 English teachers through training and professional development in Indonesia.

In 2013, following the China focus at last year’s London Book Fair, we organised a Turkey focus that will bring the best of Turkish literature to the capital and strengthen the relationship between our countries.

The UK–India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI) brings together Indian and UK academic institutions, government and industry to share innovation, strengthen leadership and international co-operation in the higher education sector, impart more skills and improve academic mobility. So far, more than 600 successful partnerships across the education sector have been created.

Project English has benefited more than 27 million young learners across India, brought opportunities for professional development to more than 650,000 teachers and 6,000 teacher trainers, and engaged more than 100 policy makers.