July the 27^th 2010 was the day 35 + business delegates attended a UKTI ,UK trade and Investment, Mexico Matters Seminar in Hinckley, Leicestershire.

The people present were there to explore trading opportunities and to equip themselves with the tools they require to be competitive on the world stage. Delegates were all looking into the possibility of attending the forthcoming Trade Mission to Monterrey Mexico and Tzitzis Sanchez, Elanga Internationals Mexico Business Consultant presented a seminar to all present on the Cultural and business Do’s and Donts when looking to do business with Mexico

“Mexico is already the UK’s second biggest trading partner in Latin America after Brazil, with the bilateral relationship between Mexico and the UK worth more than £2bn a year. But with Mexico’s economy set to become one of the largest in the world in the coming decades, now is the time to start thinking about taking advantage of the opportunities ahead.”

Sir Andrew Cahn

Chief executive officer of UK Trade & Investment

Hi , Just got telephone and wifi connected ( it was starting to look like we were macdo addicts) Ian had to make a couple of phone calls one for oil so we didn’t know if we were going to have heating, but they turned up. Had meeting with school the first Monday we arrived and managed to get our son into school the next day. There is only one other English boy in the school. Callum’s teacher speaks very good english, (but asked him to speak french to us) and helps him a lot if he does not understand.We also discovered that he will go to college in September,  a year earlier than england, so we also visited a private college in Gourec and to our surprise it’s only 925 euros for the year including dinners.Had a meeting with the Maire (who speaks very fast) his secretary spoke English and only helped if we got stuck. Managed to get a bank account even though she must have been the only person we didn’t understand anything she said. Going to visit the bar next door again tonight Ian keeps trying to convince me it’s a kind of french lesson, I must say she is as patient as you with our french.

All the french we learnt has come in very,very useful. We went to a meeting yesterday & some English had been here 5 or so years and don’t speak basic french, so thanks.

Will keep in touch

Elanga International provided one of its specialist consultants to brief all the delegates on matters of business etiquette and cultural awarenes.

The day went as follows to help raise awareness of doing business in Brazil

Meet and greet – hello/ pleased to meet you/my name is/ I work for ( job role given here )
Please/ thank you/Sorry/ Excuse me
May I have/ I would like + a few food/ drinks
Yes/no/ cheers!
I understand/ don’t understand/ do you speak English

Bye/ see you soon/ good luck  

The language input was interwoven with a cultural briefing and covered such topics as
What do you do when you greet someone e.g. shake hands/slap them on the back
What are good/bad topics of conversation within the business meeting, do you get down to business immediately or spend some time talking about personal detail or topics of interest which are relevant to the country concerned.

All delegates found the day to be helpful and were looking forward to the trip in March 2010

organised trade mission to explore the possibility of  new contacts and business

opportunities in Bulgaria in the Rail sector.The East Midlands has a very strong

legacy of activity in the Rail Sector centred around Derby which has the largest

 cluster of rail development and supply chain companies in Europe.

UK Plc is highly regarded in Bulgaria and are cumulatively the 4th largest investor

(1996 onwards). UK exports grew by 21% in 2008 within Bulgaria’s stable

macroeconomic framework, sustained economic growth and with an attractive

rate of 10% corporate tax, the lowest in Europe. the EU structural funds that are in

place to support economic regeneration, together with low operating costs make

Bulgaria an attractive market for UK businesses looking to expand overseas.

The delegate brochure had to be presented to the Bulgarian and Elanga International,

a UKTI Language provider, translated the delegate brochure from English into

Bulgarian. Individual companies taking part in the trade mission also recognized the

 importance of presenting their own company materials in Bulgarian and brochures,

 power point presentations and business cards were also translated for the mission.

Much of the language covered during the two day tuition period was business language which would enable him to be a more effective communicator in everyday business situations. It was also structured to prepare him for a job interview in Feruary 2010 where part of the Interview would be conducted in French.