Unlocking APAC: Leveraging the UK's CPTPP Membership for Business Growth

About the Event

With the UK's accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) confirmed in December 2024, now is an ideal moment for UK businesses in Singapore to explore the exciting new opportunities this development brings.

This event will highlight how the UK's membership simplifies and reduces costs for companies looking to expand their presence across key APAC markets, particularly Vietnam and Malaysia.

Join us to:

Discover specific market opportunities and insights into Vietnam and Malaysia, with a spotlight on sectors including Financial Services, Professional and Business Services, and Tech.
Learn how your business can leverage the UK's CPTPP membership to facilitate regional expansion.
Hear firsthand experiences from UK businesses that have successfully expanded into CPTPP markets.

While this event welcomes participants from all industries, it will be particularly valuable to businesses in Financial Services, Professional and Business Services, and Tech sectors considering growth in Vietnam, Malaysia, and other CPTPP countries.

Join us and unlock your pathway to growth across APAC! The event includes a Networking Reception hosted by Martin Kent, His Majesty's Trade Commissioner for Asia Pacific and H.E. Nik Mehta OBE, British High Commissioner to Singapore.

Book a one-to-one meeting with visiting officials

Special Opportunity: Businesses interested in arranging individual meetings with visiting officials from the UK, Malaysia, and Vietnam on Tuesday, 29th April are invited to request a 1:1 session by email to anna@britcham.org.sg. Details on meeting arrangements will follow based on demand.

Agenda

April 28, 2025

Main Schedule

2:00 PM - 2:25 PM

Registration & Networking

2:25 PM - 2:30 PM

Welcome: Steve Firstbrook, Country Director, Singapore, Department for Business & Trade

2:30 PM - 2:35 PM

Opening Remarks: Martin Kent, His Majesty's Trade Commissioner for Asia Pacific

2:35 PM - 3:05 PM

Introduction to CPTPP: Okkor Habibi, Senior Account Manager, FTA Utilisation, Department for Business & Trade

3:05 PM - 3:35 PM

Opportunities in Vietnam: Alexandra Smith, Consul General and Country Director, Vietnam, Department for Business & Trade

3:35 PM - 3:45 PM

Networking Break

3:45 PM - 4:15 PM

Opportunities in Malaysia: Richard Colley, Country Director, Malaysia, Department for Business & Trade

4:15 PM - 4:55 PM

Panel Discussion

5:00 PM - 7:00 PM

Networking Reception hosted by Martin Kent, His Majesty's Trade Commissioner for Asia Pacific and H.E. Nik Mehta OBE, British High Commissioner to Singapore (Optional Attendance)

Speakers

Martin Kent

His Majesty's Trade Commissioner for Asia Pacific

Nik Mehta OBE

British High Commissioner to Singapore

Okkor Habibi

Senior Account Manager, FTA Utilisation at Department for Business & Trade

Alexandra Smith

Consul General and Trade Director, Vietnam of Department for Business & Trade

Richard Colley

Country Director, Malaysia of Department for Business & Trade

David Kelly

Executive Director of British Chamber of Commerce Singapore

Sze Xin Mok

Associate Director, Indirect Tax, Asia Pacific Tax Centre of EY

Pamela Qiu

Partner at Control Risks

Alistair Scott

Managing Director of Jaguar Land Rover Singapore Pte Ltd

Shulin Tay

Regional Head of Legal - Southeast Asia, India & Japan at Revolut Technologies Singapore Pte. Ltd.

Martin Kent was appointed His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner (HMTC) for Asia Pacific in September 2023. He joined from an interim posting as the Minister and Deputy Head of Mission in the British Embassy Tokyo.

Martin previously served as a Director within the Department for Business and Trade, prior to which he was HM Deputy Trade Commissioner to Africa, based in the British Embassy Cairo.

Martin joined the Civil Service in 2015 as the Deputy Director for Global Operations at UK Trade and Investment (UKTI).

He started his career at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in London and worked mainly overseas with multinational companies, including extended periods in Australia and Singapore.

Martin graduated from St John’s College, Cambridge University, and is from Colchester in Essex.

Nikesh (Nik) Mehta is the British High Commissioner to Singapore.

Prior to this, Nik served from 2022 to 2024 as the Director for Policy and Requirements in the UK’s National Security Community.

Nik joined the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office in 2002, and has worked in Iraq, Uganda, Malaysia and South Korea. The posting to Uganda was particularly poignant for Nik because his mother, a Ugandan-Asian, was expelled from the country by Idi Amin’s forces in the early 1970s. He reported on the 20-year conflict between the Ugandan Government and the Lord’s Resistance Army, and the ensuing humanitarian crisis. Nik was the Political Counsellor in Malaysia and was responsible for the UK’s response to the two Malaysia Airlines disasters in 2014 and 2015.

Nik’s most recent role overseas was as the Deputy Ambassador at the British Embassy in South Korea from 2018 to 2022. Alongside the Ambassador, Nik was responsible for leading the embassy through the challenges of Covid and for deepening the bilateral partnership with the Korean government. During his time in South Korea, Nik brokered an agreement with the K-pop band Blackpink to work with the British government on climate action.

In the UK, Nik’s roles have primarily focused on conflict and security issues. From 2015 to 2018, Nik was a Deputy Director at the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) working on international cyber-security.

Throughout his career, Nik has been a strong supporter of diversity and inclusion. He believes passionately that the Diplomatic and Intelligence Services should reflect fully the talent across UK society and that diversity is one of the UK’s great strengths. Nik has led a number of campaigns to improve the recruitment and development of staff from minority backgrounds. He is the National Security Community’s co-Champion for Race.

Nik was awarded at OBE in HM The Queen’s 2014 Birthday Honours for his contribution to British foreign policy and diversity.

Richard Colley took up his current role as Director of Trade Malaysia in July 2022.

He is a seasoned professional with extensive experience in international trade and investment. As a Director of Trade and Investment Malaysia at the British High Commission, he plays a pivotal role in fostering economic relations between the United Kingdom and Malaysia. His responsibilities include promoting UK exports, encouraging Malaysian investments into the UK, and facilitating business partnerships.

Colley’s career in trade and investment spans over two decades, during which he has held various strategic positions including Head of the Advanced Engineering and Manufacturing in the US (2009-14) and Director of Trade Philippines (2018-2022). His expertise lies in market analysis, economic diplomacy, and international business development.

David Kelly is the Executive Director of the British Chamber of Commerce Singapore responsible for the strategy, growth and profile of the Chamber, supporting and representing British business interests, and connecting companies to opportunities in Singapore and across ASEAN. A Chartered Marketer, David joined the British Chamber of Commerce (Singapore) in 2019. He also has a regional role Co-Chairing Britain in South East Asia (BiSEA) promoting pan-ASEAN opportunities for UK companies. David has lived in Singapore since 2015.

Prior to his role at the Chamber, David worked at the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) where he spearheaded the development and execution of a completely reinvigorated global marketing strategy along with an Asia Pacific regional expansion plan which fortified the Institute and supported rapid growth between 2012-2019, seeing the Institute double in size from 11,000 members to 23,000 with membership in Asia Pacific increasing from 19% to 40% of global subscribers. Alongside his role at the IMarEST, he was also the Chair of the UK’s Marine Industries Leadership Council (MILC) Image Working Group from 2014 – 2016 and was involved in a number of industry reports covering skills, education & training and automation in the shipping industry.

Before the IMarEST, David led and delivered the global turn-around marketing programmes for the International Wine & Spirit Competition Group of brands in the UK, America and Asia after marketing B2B and B2C solutions, both online and offline, in the financial services industry.

Born in Manchester, UK, David is passionate about mentoring, life-long learning and supporting others and has been a mentor at Ngee Ann Polytechnic (Singapore) and the University of Hull for Business and Marketing students and a committee member on the Singapore Institute of Technology’s Marine Programmes' Industry Advisory Committee (IAC).

Alistair Scott was appointed Managing Director for Jaguar Land Rover's Asia Pacific Region on 1st September 2020. Based in Singapore, Alistair is responsible for Market & Business Operations, JLR House of Brands, Comms Client & Experiential Operations, Digitalisation and Regional Transformation policies.

He has 16 markets reporting into him: two JLR National Sales Companies (Singapore & Taiwan) and 14 importer markets spanning across the Northern and Southern Hemispheres within Asia Pacific.

Alistair joined the company in 2013 but has spent much of his working career overseas in various locations around the globe. Prior to his most recent role as Sales Director for the AP region, Alistair operated as a Regional Business Manager within JLR’s Overseas Division, responsible for LACRO, Brazil, Korea and Australia.

Complimentary Pass

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British Chamber of Commerce Singapore

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About the Event

Book a one-to-one meeting with visiting officials