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IN FOCUS: NATALIE BLACK CBE, THE FIRST TO HOLD THE ROLE OF HIS MAJESTY’S TRADE COMMISSIONER FOR ASIA
In this special edition of our regular In Focus interview, Executive Director David Kelly sits down with Natalie as she completes her term in the role.
As the first HMTC for APAC, how has the role evolved during your tenure in the region?
It’s been my privilege to serve as the first His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for Asia Pacific. Based in Singapore, I’ve had the opportunity to get to know the local and regional business community that live here and I am very grateful to the Chamber for all their support to my role and me personally. Damian, Bicky, David and all the Board members have kept me on the straight and narrow over the last five years!
I started the role shortly after the UK left the European Union with a clear mandate to be as ambitious as possible in our trade and investment relationships across the Asia Pacific as part of the UK’s broader strategic tilt to this region. Despite a global pandemic and the inevitable flux of politics, we have delivered more than we ever hoped thanks to the support of UK business in the region – particularly here in Singapore. Our trading relationship with the region is now worth over £119 billion with the foundations to grow even further. UK exports to the region are at a record high, amounting to £63.3 billion in 2022. The UK currently exports more to Asia Pacific than the Middle East, South Asia and Africa combined. Asia Pacific is also the largest regional source of investment into the UK outside North America and Europe, topping £125 billion of Foreign Direct Investment from Asia Pacific to the UK in 2021.
Free Trade Agreements have been a major focus. Building on continuity agreements including the one with Singapore, the UK has signed its first new ones in the region –Japan, Australia and New Zealand. But we have also recognised the benefits of these can take a while to be realised and so we established the UK’s first ever overseas Market Access hub to target specific trade barriers. It has resolved more than £600 million worth of barriers over five years, across life sciences, offshore wind and food and drink.
The importance of multilateralism and supporting the rules-based international order has also become increasingly important in light of global uncertainty. The Chamber played a key role in helping the UK to become ASEAN’s first new Dialogue Partner for 25 years in 2021 and the first new member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) – a £12 trillion trade bloc worth over 15% of global GDP. The voice of business - via the Chamber - is essential in ensuring these partnerships work for UK business and in demonstrating the value the UK brings to the region.
Where do you see the key opportunities for UK business in the region?
Asia Pacific is at the heart of global growth and provides a range of opportunities for UK companies from infrastructure to life sciences. The Department for Business & Trade Team based in the British High Commission and led by Steve Firstbrook, is particularly focused on digital and tech, green growth and maximising the usage of the UK-Singapore FTA.
More broadly in the region, we are focused on inward investment and seven sectors including technology, infrastructure, financial services, defence, life sciences, sustainable energy and education. This reflects the diversity of the region and the range of UK expertise. But we are also seeing increased collaboration opportunities across sectors, for example leveraging the strength of UK tech in life sciences and financing of green energy projects. The UK-Singapore Green Economy Framework will support this – bringing together elements of climate and trade to support export opportunities and help achieve national decarbonisation targets.
On a personal note, I have focused my efforts on increasing awareness of UK capability in technology. We have one of the world’s top tech sectors, worth over $1 trillion with over 160 unicorns. As a horizontal, it enables so much of the UK’s expertise, which is why we launched the UK’s first Digital Trade Network here in Asia Pacific. The network has gone on to support over 500 companies and 85 UK scale-ups. A real highlight of this year was to welcome over 650 investors, entrepreneurs and researchers from across APAC to London Tech Week, including a fantastic delegation from Singapore.
How has the British Chamber of Commerce network across the region supported your role and how do you see this developing going forwards?
The British Chamber of Commerce network is an incredible resource of support (and challenge!). It ensures we can talk to UK businesses directly in market and we can work hand in hand to make the most of the opportunities while tackling the challenges together. The Chamber in Singapore has supported a large number of official visits, including our Permanent Secretary of the Department for Business and Trade Gareth Davies and our Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Singapore Lord Sarfraz.
The value of the Chambers was particularly clear during the pandemic. With travel increasingly challenging, they were an important temperature check of how UK business were feeling and key feedback loop to governments in the region as we worked together to get back to ‘the new normal’.
Cross-Chamber cooperation under the umbrella of “Britain in South East Asia”, BiSEA, has a particularly important role to play in the region. As our relationship with ASEAN matures, they will be key to ensuring we realise the benefits of this partnership for UK businesses on the ground. Working together across borders, they offer an important perspective and a new way of collaborating that will really make a difference.
What have been the main highlights over the last five years?
There are so many highlights, it’s difficult to pick only a few but it was fantastic to see the Secretary of State Kemi Badenoch sign CPTPP in Auckland earlier this year. So many people had worked so hard to make that happen so it was a big moment to see the UK become the first new member of this important trading bloc worth over £340 billion.
Another highlight was representing the UK at the first in-person UK-ASEAN Economic Ministers meeting since the UK became a Dialogue Partner. As the UK’s first Senior Economic Official, I was proud to see our first-ever joint economic workplan agreed after leading the negotiations with ASEAN in Jakarta and Siem Reap with the brilliant team from the UK Mission to ASEAN.
In Singapore, I think the signing of the Digital Economy Agreement with Singapore was really special. It is the first trade deal of its type we have signed anywhere in the world and shows how the UK and Singapore have a uniquely innovative relationship. The Chamber is now playing an important role putting it into action and it was great to have two members join me (Andrew McKeown and Carl Hemus) at TechSauce in Bangkok to share more about what we are doing together.
What next for the UK following the CPTPP, DEA and other agreements that you’ve been instrumental in delivering for the UK?
Our focus is now relentlessly on implementation and delivery. Our membership of CPTPP will enter into force after it has been ratified through Parliament, and other members have completed their own legislative processes. UK businesses will then be able to trade with CPTPP members on preferential terms, using either CPTPP or any existing bilateral agreement.
The Digital Economy Agreement with Singapore entered into force in 2022, and we’re already seeing businesses take advantage of it. In particular, it was fantastic to see three members of the British Chamber of Commerce Singapore: LogChain, Hurricane Commerce and TMX Global Singapore, sign an agreement earlier this year to support the digitalisation of trade, supply chains and logistics.
The DEA’s world-class provisions on key aspects of the digital economy such as data, artificial intelligence, financial services, digital identities, and legal technology make it easier for companies to trade digitally with Singapore, and the Agreement was designed to continue to deliver meaningful outputs for business long after signature. We will continue to work closely with BritCham Singapore and departments across the Singapore Government to drive forwards the implementation of the agreement.
What are your future plans?
In September, I will be returning to the UK and I hope to stay in touch with many members of the Chamber. Please look me up when you are in London!
