Kemi Badenoch, UK’s Business & Trade Secretary at the Banqueting House in London. (Image: Debashis Sarkar/News18)
On the sidelines of the UK’s biggest tech conference – London Tech Week – Business & Trade Secretary, Kemi Badenoch, addressed delegates, tech firms and investors at the Banqueting House in London to announce the Unicorn Kingdom: Pathfinder Awards 2023.
The UK seems to be gearing up to move on from Brexit, pandemic and the on-going Russia-Ukraine war and finally focus on its tech business strategy to boost its economy. On the sidelines of the UK’s biggest tech conference – London Tech Week – Business & Trade Secretary, Kemi Badenoch, addressed delegates, tech firms and investors at the Banqueting House in London to announce that ‘UK is open for business’.
At London Tech Week 2023, the UK invited the biggest ever Asia Pacific delegation, including investment funds worth £100 billion.
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“Ladies and Gentlemen, we are open for business. And that’s why I’m excited to announce the launch of our new global tech awards, promoting the benefits of the UK ecosystem around the world,” said Business & Trade Secretary, Kemi Badenoch.
The UK’s government is actively promoting itself to global tech businesses as “Unicorn Kingdom”.
The new award is an expansion of the Tech Rocketship Awards and is called ‘Unicorn Kingdom: Pathfinder Awards 2023’. The UK government hopes to identify the “brightest and best tech companies around the world.” The winners will be flown to the UK and given support to help them accelerate their business growth.
“And while I’m talking about growth, I’m sure you are all aware that it was just a few weeks ago that we agreed our accession to the CPTPP – the UK’s biggest trade agreement since we left the EU – which promises huge potential for the UK economy. Such trade deals are often framed as being all about tariffs and the trading of physical goods, but they’re about much more,” said Badenoch.
The government is looking to cement further its relationship between the tech sectors of the UK and APAC. “For this reason, it is my great pleasure to say that the APAC Digital Trade Network, which seeks to raise the profile and accelerate the expansion of UK technology in Asia will expand its coverage to two new markets – Vietnam and Taiwan,” added Badenoch.
She also announced that the government has appointed Oxfordshire-based Intralink to deliver support across 11 APAC markets, “ensuring UK tech firms get the support they need to trade and flourish in this fast-growing and vibrant part of the world.”
