DPD and the Department for International Trade - partnering to support UK exports
The UK Government's Department for International Trade (DIT) and DPD have formed a strategic partnership to help UK companies sell overseas.
DIT secures UK and global prosperity by promoting and financing international trade and investment and championing free trade. DPD gives UK firms access to thousands of potential new customers worldwide by providing them with the best-possible delivery experience. Both organisations share a common goal to support UK businesses as they export for the first time or expand their international reach.
DIT offers a wide range of free export support via great.gov.uk, including:
DIT's 'Exporting is GREAT' campaign supports the department's aim to increase UK exports by encouraging and inspiring businesses to sell overseas and directing themto relevant information and advice to help them do this.
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Government launches online service to help UK companies export products
From researching the global demand for your products to learning how to get paid, the Department for International Trade's (DIT) new online service - on great.gov.uk - can help you sell to customers worldwide.
DIT designed the service for small UK businesses that sell goods and want to grow by starting to sell internationally. Created by international trade experts, it guides users step by step through everything they need to know and do to succeed in finding and selling to international customers.
The service is tailored to your business, so it doesn't matter if you want to sell gin to Japan or knitwear to New Zealand - you can find out where the demand for your product is and how to export it.
Filled with personal stories, explainer videos and expert advice, you'll also learn from other business owners who've been there before. Hear about what they wish they'd known when they started selling to international customers and what they do to keep their businesses growing.
Learning at your own pace, the site takes you through everything you need to think about before starting to export your product. You complete information about your business, product and ambitions as you go. By the end you'll have a clear export plan to help you start finding new customers to grow your business.
Visit great.gov.uk to:
- Learn to export. Access free lessons on identifying opportunities abroad; preparing to sell into new countries; regulations, licensing and logistics and funding, financing and getting paid.
- Decide where to export. Live market data can be used and compared to help make an informed choice about where to sell your product. The data shown is personalised based on the product your business sells.
- Make an export plan. Our international experts have broken down the process of building export plan into bite-size chunks. Complete your plan step by step by following the interactive process to create an export plan ready to share with personnel, banks or partners.
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Spotlight on: Japan
UK and Japan sign historic free-trade agreement
© Department for International Trade
The UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement was signed by International Trade Secretary Liz Truss and Japan's Foreign Minister Motegi Toshmitsu on 23 October.
The deal is tailored to the UK economy and secures additional benefits beyond the EU-Japan trade deal, giving UK companies exporting to Japan a competitive advantage in a number of areas.
UK businesses - particularly in the food and drink, manufacturing and tech sectors - will benefit from tariff-free trade on 99% of exports to Japan. Government analysis shows that a deal with Japan will deliver a £1.5 billion boost to the UK economy and increase UK workers' wages by £800 million in the long run.
International Trade Secretary Liz Truss said: "This is a historic moment for the UK and Japan as our first major post-Brexit trade deal. The agreement we have negotiated - in record time and in challenging circumstances - goes far beyond the existing EU deal, as it secures new wins for British businesses in our great manufacturing, food-and-drink and tech industries."
Find out more about the UK-Japan free-trade agreement.
Exporting to Japan
Japan is the third-largest economy in the world with a GDP of $5.18 trillion (IMF, 2019). Out of 190 countries, it ranks 29th in the World Bank's 'Ease of Doing Business' rankings.
In the four quarters to the end of Q1 2019, UK exports to Japan amounted to £14.6 billion, an increase of 8.5% from the same period the previous year (ONS, 2019). There are opportunites for UK companies across a broad range of sectors.
Key features of the Japanese market:
- Japan is an advanced economy and a stable place for the UK to do business, with strong economic and political ties between the two countries. A track record of success at home can be effective here if you are willing to take some steps to adapt to Japanese business culture.
- The country has a large, rich and highly educated consumer market which is an early adopter of new products and services.
- The e-commerce market in Japan is set to increase by 29% between 2018 and 2022 to be worth $203.90 billion, according to Worldpay's 2018 Global Payments report.
This content has been sourced from DIT's market guide to Japan on great.gov.uk.
© DPD