The school summer holidays are almost over, which means mornings can get back to some sort of slightly hectic normality – but there could be a new lesson on the kids’ curriculum this new term, as cyber security is to be taught in schools.
Month: <span>August 2018</span>
If you’ve got a split mobile phone contract – whereby you pay separately for the cost of your smartphone and the cost of your monthly mobile data, call, and text allowances – you could be overpaying to the tune of £69 a year.
We’ve all be guilty of mutli-tasking while teleconferencing – whether it’s conference calling while on the commute, continuing to type up some notes, checking in on Facebook, or even taking a shower (no, really). It’s fair to assume that no-one sits on a conference call without doing anything else.
But one woman in the US as just raised the bar when it comes to teleconference multitasking.
If you were in business around the turn of the millennium, you’ll no doubt have been spooked by talk of the Millennium Bug – you may even have taken steps to prevent the glitch from crippling your company’s IT systems.
Now someone is suggesting it was never really a problem – unsurprisingly, they’re using this theory to support their own about Brexit, and the doom-merchants are wrong on the impact of leaving the EU, just as the experts were wrong about the impact of the Millennium Bug.
So, did we really all overestimate the Millennium Bug?
Benin is a country in West Africa with a population of around 10 million – and although it’s neighbours with Nigeria it has nowhere the same trade links or business opportunities.
Porto Novo is the capital of Benin but most of the country’s trade is done via the bustling port of Cotonou where cargo includes cocoa, rice and cotton, which is the lifeblood of the economy.
There is also a growing trade in used vehicles from Europe and the US – imports have grown from 200,000 in 2010 to 314,000 in 2014.
On average, 25,000 cars pass through Cotonou every month – up to 90% of which end up in Nigeria – but it’s something of a murky market and in 2013 there was a diplomatic disagreement between the two countries when Nigerian customs officials directly accused the Beninese government of smuggling vehicles into Nigeria.
So if you’re thinking of dabbling in the Beninese second-hand car market, approach it with caution.
And as Benin is something of an unknown quantity, it may be worth setting up an international conference call with potential business partners to get the lay of the land before you commit.
And here’s how…
The third largest economy in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations – a regional intergovernmental organization comprising ten Southeast Asian countries that promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military, educational, and socio-cultural integration among its members – Thailand is home to over 50,000 British residents, and the export of UK goods is worth around £1.96 billion a year. Service exports from the UK are worth around £708 million annually.
Top exports from the UK to Thailand include:
- iron and steel
- road vehicles
- electrical machinery
- power generating machinery and equipment
- medicinal and pharmaceutical
If you think the Thai market could be good for your business, here’s everything you need to know about exporting to Thailand.