The British Chambers of Commerce held their annual International Conference in London at the end of June, and the British Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce was represented by board member Gilbert McCaul.
Here’s what Gilbert McCaul has shared:
The event covered two days; the first day was a Global Leaders Forum which was attended by board members and senior staff from chambers all around the world. This proved a very useful day. I was able to meet and discuss issues with representatives from many different chambers, both UK and internationally based. A key theme was on building better and more effective networks, taking us beyond excellent connections to ensuring even better commercial collaboration with our members. The critical role of our co-operation with British and local embassies was emphasised.
After an evening reception in the grand surroundings of the Locarno Suite of the Foreign Office, the main conference was held the next day in the QE II Centre in Westminster. This was a more formal event than the previous day’s forum, but it gave an excellent insight into the economic and political issues currently facing the UK. As the conference was being held in a week when Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced his intention to step down from office the was plenty of political comment being made. There were senior speakers present from the five major national UK political parties, a notable first for this conference, which clearly gave rise to a variety of different views on how best to develop the economy. Delivering Growth was the key message of the conference. The new president of the British Chambers of Commerce is Andy Haldane, a former chief economist of the Bank of England, who gave a thoughtful speech on the key opportunities and risks facing the British economy. Breakout sessions covered issues such as the unlocking of trade potential through the UK/EU reset, delivering growth through AI adoption and how investment in infrastructure can act as a catalyst for longer-term growth.
Despite being held on the warmest two June days on record in the UK, I believe that all delegates found this to be a very worthwhile event. The key message from the conference is to use the international chamber network to deliver economic growth through the most effective collaboration.