UKTI and the DIT

Fortunately, this isn’t another blog about acronyms and initialisms! Our aim here is to update you, if you hadn’t already heard, on UKTI’s transition into the Department for International Trade.

With the appointment of a brand new Prime Minister came the creation of a brand new government department – the Department for International Trade or DIT (pronounced dee-eye-tee) for short.

Led by the Secretary of State for International Trade, the Rt Hon Liam Fox, the department has overall responsibility for:
– developing, coordinating and delivering a new trade and investment policy to promote UK business across the globe
– developing and negotiating free trade agreements and market access deals with non-EU countries
– negotiating plurilateral trade deals (focused on specific sectors or products)
– providing operational support for exports and facilitating inward and outward investment

UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) has now transitioned over to the DIT and the re-branding is being rolled out.

Dr Catherine Raines, the Director-General for International Trade & Investment for the DIT (and who, by way of a link to industry, has a PhD in Pharmaceutical Engineering, started out working for ICI and rose up the ranks to VP Corporate Development (China) for AstraZeneca) states, “The formation of the Department represents a major elevation of the trade agenda under the new Government. I am incredibly excited about the possibilities this represents.”

As UK Trade & Investment was a joint effort between the former Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Dr. Raines added they are now part of one department “whose sole focus is trade and investment” and that she is “fortunate enough to be able to rely on a fantastic cadre of staff from UK and overseas who have responded magnificently to recent changes and who continue to deliver great work.” The DIT commitment remains strong to continue promoting international trade and investment despite “the biggest machinery of government change in a half century.”

So the UKTI teams are now the DIT teams and it’s business as usual for any current contacts you have.  Read the full text of Dr Raines’ blog Integrating and Elevating, then update yourself on the new Department of International Trade and perhaps follow them on Twitter and LinkedIn!

That World of Opportunity still awaits you and the DIT are still there to help!