British companies are now able to apply for Department for International Trade (DIT) grants of £2,500 to help with the cost of exhibiting at two upcoming major plastics and rubber tradeshows: Plastimagen 2017 (7-10 Nov 2017, Mexico City) and Plastindia 2018 (7-12 Feb 2017, Ahmedabad, Gujarat). The grants are being administered by the British Plastics Federation (BPF).
The BPF, which was involved in a bidding process for DIT to secure these grants, points out that there are only a limited number available and they will be allocated on first-come, first-served basis. BPF Senior Business Development Executive Justyna Elliott comments:
We are pleased to announce that we have secured grants of £2,500 for eligible British companies — but with a limit of just ten grants per show, we expect them to go quickly. If you are hoping to be part of the British Pavilion at either of these shows, please get in touch soon as there is only limited space available.
The DIT Tradeshow Access Programme (TAP), which oversees grant distribution, has the objective of encouraging new-to-export UK companies to exhibit overseas and explore foreign markets. More experienced SMEs can also apply as long as they have been exporting for less than ten years or have not exhibited at a previous edition of a tradeshow. TAP grants are viewed as a huge motivator for British companies in exploring foreign markets as they cover the majority of the cost of a small stand, reducing the cost of exhibiting abroad.
The BPF is running British Pavilions at both Plastimagen 2017 and Plastindia 2018. Both export markets are viewed favorably by DIT. Mexico has a number of free trade agreements with both the EU and the USA, and currently imports almost 50% of its plastics materials as well as the majority of its equipment. Similarly, India is a huge and well-known export market and it is widely anticipated that the Indian government’s recently announced $375 billion infrastructure investment programme will create even more opportunities.
For further information please visit bpf.co.uk/events or contact Justyna Elliott: jelliott@bpf.co.uk.