UK contractor Balfour Beatty and equipment maker JCB are among 31 companies joining UK prime minister David Cameron on a four-day mission to south-east Asia to boost British exports to the fast-growing region.
As the delegation landed in Jakarta this morning the UK government said it would make up to £1bn ($1.55bn) available to finance infrastructure projects in Indonesia through its export guarantee scheme.
The UK government said it would make up £1bn available to finance infrastructure projects in Indonesia through its export guarantee scheme–
And trade deals worth over £750m are expected to be signed over the coming four days as the delegation visits Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia.
The region is forecast to grow at 5% this year and David Cameron wants to increase UK exports there to £1 trillion a year, and to get 100,000 more UK companies exporting by 2020, the government said.
Travelling with Cameron are 31 representatives from UK businesses including Leo Quinn, chief executive of contracting giant Balfour Beatty, and JCB director, Philip Bouverat, BBC News has reported.
The UK government said it would make up £1bn available to finance infrastructure projects in Indonesia through its export guarantee scheme, which could pave the way for £200m worth of new UK exports to the region.Â
Projects up for grabs include a sewage treatment system in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, worth £400m, and geothermal power projects worth £66m, the government said.
As well as boosting bilateral trade, Cameron will also call for the speeding up of talks on a free trade agreement between the EU and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which the UK government says is worth £3bn to the UK economy.
Photograph: Jakarta, capital and largest commercial centre of Indonesia (yohanes budiyanto/Wikimedia Commons)
