Asian opportunities must be explored

‘UK business ambassador’ Tamara Mellon (co-founder of the Jimmy Choo footwear company) and Dragon’s Den star Theo Paphitis joined forces last week to encourage UK companies to look at the many opportunities that exist in Asia’s high-growth and emerging markets at Explore Asia, a UK Trade & Investment event held in partnership with the RBS bank.

This event looked at business opportunities in 12 Asian markets (China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam) and offered practical, hands-on advice from specialists and companies that are already succeeding in the region.Mr Paphitis said: “From China to South Korea and the Philippines to Singapore, Asia’s economies are going one way, and that’s up. I would urge UK companies — particularly SMEs — to capitalise on the burgeoning opportunities in these markets. If they don’t, they will risk being left behind.”

Sir Philip Hampton, chairman of RBS, said: “Nearly two-thirds of our customers identified Asia as the market with the greatest future opportunity, yet less than half understood how to export there. Working closely with UKTI, we have been providing practical, accessible solutions to SMEs across the country, so they can take advantage of the fast-growing Asian market.”