HOW RIA CAN HELP YOU ON THE ROAD TO BECOMING A SUCCESSFUL EXPORTER

UK rail has a global reputation, so there is great potential to grow rail exports, boosting UK trade and increasing resilience of the UK supply chain and creating new SME jobs.

The Global Market Study conducted by European trade association, UNIFE, last autumn forecasts rail markets to grow by 3% every year to 2027, so with some uncertainty in the UK market, now may be a perfect time to look overseas to diversify risk and expand client bases.

RIA, working with our partners have some activity planned or scheduled from September onwards that could help you on the road to being a successful exporter.

So far in 2023, we have been busy helping RIA members and UK companies engage with clients and stakeholders in various international markets or providing market intelligence and some of our activities supporting exports this year have been:

■ working with Department for Business & Trade (DBT), a Rail Trade Mission visited Stockholm, Sweden on 25 – 27 April with a delegation of 25 delegates, centred around a UK stand on the Train & Rail exhibition, with a programme and briefings with local stakeholders over the three days along with a network reception at the British Embassy.

■ a well-attended international presentation and panel session at RailTex. Speakers included ERG International on their UKEF funded HS rail project in Turkey; AusTrade, about the opportunities in Australia and DBT officers for Brazil and France talking about projects and routes to market.

■ Middle East Rail 2023 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on 15–16 May, with over 30 UK companies in the RIA/Intec arranged UK pavilion. The UK’s Rail and HS2 Minister, Huw Merriman MP, attended and supported UK exporters. Our wider programme included a major networking UK reception and a UK briefing for companies, including speakers from Dubai Metro Operations & Maintenance provider, Keolis-MHI; a Gulf Cooperation Council projects overview from Meed and a project overview of Israel rail opportunities from DBT.

■ a RIA/DBT Rail Trade Mission to Spain on 13-15 June to Bilbao and Madrid, with 15 companies who were preselected following a vetting process by clients from the 30 who applied for meetings with Spanish based procurement officials such as CAF, Euskal

Trenbide Sarea, Alstom, Talgo and ADIF. The mission included a networking dinner in Bilbao and a tour of Talgo in Madrid.

If these have raised your interests and you would like to be involved in our upcoming export programme for the remainder of the year, please contact the RIA exports team.

Looking ahead our programme of confirmed and pending activities includes:

■ SEPTEMBER - TRAKO 2023Europe’s second largest Rail & Metro show - Gdansk, Poland (19–22 September). TRAKO is a large exhibition with six or more exhibition halls and outside track for rolling stock and some plant on display. Well attended trade exhibition, covering players for Central and Eastern Europe, the fair takes place every two years.

■ OCTOBER - APTA EXPO 2023USA’s Rail & Bus show – Orlando, USA (08–11 October), a large public transportation industry show which is well attended and showcases the latest technologies, products, and services by organizations from around the globe.

■ OCTOBER - possible Rail Trade Mission & UK Pavilion at India’s IREE Exhibition in New Delhi, India (12-14 October). Currently under discussion with DBT, the International Railway Equipment Exhibition claims to be the only event in India for the Rail Transportation Sector with active involvement and participation of Indian Railways. With group meetings being planned as part of the rail trade mission in New Delhi and Calcutta, this could be the time to explore this large rail market.

■ NOVEMBER - AusRail Plus

2023 - International Convention Centre in Sydney, Australia (13 –16 November). To be confirmed, expressions of interest wanted.

Australia has a very large pipeline of rail projects currently being undertaken or planned and AusRail Plus with a conference and exhibition is a great event to engage and network with the 5,000 industry attendees.

■ IN EARLY 2024 - possible Rail Trade missions to Israel and Ireland are currently being discussed, with expressions of interest wanted from UK companies to join these possible missions. Both markets are undertaking various renewals and/or enhancements to their networks, offering opportunities to UK companies.

As an organisation, RIA lobbies for support for our industry and that includes rail should be recognised as a key export sector, for both goods and services, including through support for SMEs, in the negotiation and delivery of free trade deals.

We would like to know what asks for more government support you consider are important to exporters and would welcome some suggestions and details.

Please pass these asks onto the RIA exports team (exports@riagb.org.uk) so we can consider including these in future communications and appeals.

Some of our current asks are:

■ smooth cross border trade rules –which minimise cost and delay and avoid trade distortionary tariffs.

■ consistent application of standards

– RIA and our members want to see mutual recognition/ equivalence and non-discrimination as core principles in all UK trade agreements. This would support the competitiveness of the UK rail supply sector and ensure economies of scale.

■ increase the level of support at overseas rail exhibitions and UK Pavilions, by helping to fund the costs of GREAT branding pavilions and networking space. This will help to create a rolling offer which is typically used by UK exhibiting companies, along with many visiting UK companies and government officials.

■ review the cancellation of the previous Tradeshow Access Programme scheme and reintroduce or improve the existing UK Tradeshow Programme grant scheme to be more generous and aligned to industry needs and timings.

■ provide seed funding and initiatives to support exporters, especially for SMEs, by re-introducing or continuing the ‘Internationalisation’ fund.

■ as part of the Retained EU Law Bill, there needs to be an assurance that the divergence risk is being accurately assessed through the exports lens, with unintended consequences avoided and the necessary time taken to properly appraise proposals.

These are just some of our asks; we would like to know yours too.

We look forward to hearing your views or receiving interest in how we can help you, on your own exporting journey.