The coronavirus pandemic is calling globalisation into
question as businesses focus more on regionalised trade.
A new report by James Sproule, former senior business adviser to Boris Johnson
in Downing Street, argues that the key to making the UK a champion for global
entrepreneurship - and making the vision of Global Britain a reality - is to
position the UK to support a new generation of start-ups around the world.
‘Going Globa [1]l [2]', published by the Centre for Policy Studies, argues that
the government should establish two connected schemes: e-citizenship (modelled
on the scheme introduced by Estonia) and e-businesses. Trusted entrepreneurs
would be able to set up and operate start-up firms from anywhere in the world,
while adhering to and benefiting from British corporate governance and English
law.
The report suggests these measures would stimulate investment and global
entrepreneurship, especially in countries where the start-up spirit is stifled
by corruption and maladministration. It would also put the UK at the heart of
global trade in services and ideas.
A British e-citizenship scheme would give overseas entrepreneurs access to UK
services, to the benefit of English law, to UK financing and investors,
providing assurance to customers and creditors that they, and the company they
represent, were trustworthy.
The report highlights that businesses in much of the developing world have
difficulty in raising capital from international sources, as investors are
cautious about putting their money in places where the rule of law is weak and
there needs to be a considerable investment of time to understand local legal
complexities.
By having the UK e-international company based in English law, which is well
understood and widely trusted, the path would be open for investors to channel
capital to places and firms that had never before been considered. High
standards of governance would ensure that such firms adhered scrupulously to
British rules and regulations.
The scheme could also tie into the new points-based immigration system, so that
those operating established and successful companies receive extra immigration
points in their application, ensuring that the UK really does attract the best
and brightest. However, e-citizenship would confer no automatic right to move
to Britain.
The model is similar to Estonian e-residency, which has led to the registration
of 10,000 new companies and 62,000 applications for e-residence.
James Sproule, author of the report, said:
"The future for the United Kingdom is one full of possibilities, and nowhere
are these possibilities more obvious than in looking at the potential for new
global trading and business relationships.
"There could be no greater testament to the Prime Minister and United
Kingdom's commitment to free trade than inviting entrepreneurs from around the
world to benefit from the business culture of the UK - and few better ways of
offering British companies a chance to help the most rapidly growing firms in
the world to prosper."
'Going Global' is available here [3]
These proposals have been developed by James Sproule, former Senior Business Adviser to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and former Chief Economist and Director of Policy at the Institute of Directors. He is currently UK Chief Economist at Handelsbanken