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With the new President at odds with the military council and parliament being suspended by the country’s Supreme Constitutional Court, outside observers could be forgiven for thinking that trade is low on Egypt’s list of current concerns.

However, the country clearly cannot afford its political upheavals to stand in the way of moves to facilitate and secure its international trade, and plans have been announced for Egypt to join the TIR Convention “in the very near future”.

The International Road Transport Union (IRU) has reported that major public and private stakeholders have met recently to discuss a concrete action plan aimed at speeding up the efforts needed to join the Convention.

The meeting was attended by the country’s Customs Commissioner as well as representatives from the import and export control authority and from the transport industry.

They unanimously agreed on the vital need for Egypt to join, as soon as possible, the major UN trade and road transport facilitation and security instruments, including the Harmonisation and TIR Conventions, to further develop the country’s international trade and to enable it to become a logistic hub for the region.

Adhesion to the TIR Convention would be particularly timely for Egypt, the IRU has pointed out, given the recent launch of regular ferry lines allowing RO-RO (roll-on, roll-off) transports from Turkey to Egyptian ports.

TIR stands for Transports Internationaux Routiers (International Road Transport) and is an international harmonised system of Customs control intended to facilitate trade and transport whilst effectively protecting the revenue of each country through which goods are carried.

The deadline for agreeing a new EU budget for the next seven years is fast approaching; and if anyone harboured any hopes that this budget would be reoriented towards growth, they will be sorely disappointed. Farm ministers of France and Germany argued that CAP spending between 2014 and 2020 should be frozen, and not cut as some countries had demanded. If this position is maintained there will be no headroom in the budget for the EU’s policy priorities to be matched with more EU spending. France and Germany are arguing that the CAP can be a catalyst for growth, employment, innovation – rather than allowing opponents to portray the CAP simply as a social security scheme for farmers. The UK Government will undoubtedly regret this development but may not choose to fight it as it will need to use its political capital to defend its budget rebate.

The Commission consults on VAT

Last week the Commission launched a consultation on reduced VAT rates, as part of a wider exercise to reform the EU VAT system in order to make it simpler, more efficient and more robust. The consultation focuses on 3 specific areas where reduced VAT rates need to be reviewed: the impact of reduced rates on competition within the Single Market; the choice of goods and services which can benefit from a reduced rate; and the impact of technological developments on the VAT treatment of similar goods and services (which was agreed by Member States many years ago, and EU policy has developed and evolved since). Therefore, respondents are asked whether certain reduced VAT rates now contradict EU policy objectives. Here, answers should be concentrated on the reduced rates for water, energy, waste management and housing.

Last week saw business policy developments in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. On Tuesday a package ofmeasuresto help cut unnecessary red tape were announced as new amendments to theEnterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill. The amendments include removing automatic liability on business for civil damages in health and safety cases when they are not found negligent, and the removal of the provisions in the Equality Act 2010 which make employers liable for harassment of its employees by third parties, such as customers or clients, over whom the employer does not have direct control.

In the House of Lords, the beginning of the week saw a series of debates take place on trade, investment and start-up businesses in the UK. The Chamber Network’s important role helping businesses to export was cited during these debates by both Lord Cope of Berkeley and Lord Haskel.

This week will see the report stage of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill as well as the committee stage of theInfrastructure (Financial Assistance) Bill. The Chamber network will, as ever, be lobbying in the coming weeks to ensure that these Bills help to provide businesses with the support that they need to grow.

The latest figures show that the number of private sector businesses in the UK increased significantly to 4.8 million at the start of 2012 – a record high.

This is an increase on last year’s figures, which showed there were 4.5 million businesses in the UK at the start of 2011.

The statistics, published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, also show:

•The 4.8 million private sector businesses employed an estimated 23.9 million people and had an estimated turnover of £3,100 billion •Of the 4.8 million private sector businesses, 99.9 per cent of them were small and medium sized enterprises. •SMEs also account for 59.2 per cent of private sector employment and 48.8 per cent of private sector turnover.

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The Quarter 3 Quarterly Economic Survey (QES) reported that despite a backdrop of national results showing weak economic growth and poor business confidence, some areas of business in Norfolk were doing better than their national counterparts. Both the Norfolk manufacturing and service sectors showed positive results around their future export orders, as well as their domestic orders.

Norfolk Chamber members are now starting to report a slight upward trend in comparison to previous months. Is your business following suit or are trading conditions still proving to be a challenge?

The British Chambers of Commerce QES is used by both the Bank of England and the Chancellor of the Exchequer to plan the future of the UK economy. The survey takes less than 3 minutes to complete online, so please take the time to input into this important survey to ensure Norfolk businesses have a voice and are heard at a national level. The survey needs to be completed by Monday 3 December 2012. Click here to complete the survey.

New businesses need all the help they can get when it comes to establishing themselves and in Norfolk there’s plenty of support available, ranging from support with marketing and social media, specialist advice to networking opportunities.

One of the organisations offering such help is Norfolk Chamber of Commerce, which sees membership as a good way for new businesses to get themselves noticed. Norfolk Chamber of Commerce is a business membership organisation supporting members of all sizes and from all sectors; from start-ups to large corporate members such as Aviva and Bernard Matthews. As a member you can raise your profile using our free PR system incorporating: access to our website; social media exposure; and our bi-monthly magazine, Norfolk Voice. Reach new customers through networking at Chamber events and access free business services such as HR and legal help lines.

Caroline Williams CEO Norfolk Chamber of Commerce said: “We can help new businesses grow, save money, raise their profile and build their contacts throughout Norfolk.

“We are able to make the wider business network accessible to new enterprises by giving them a cost-effective chance to tap into our network, our marketing reach and really get their business seen.

“We can help new businesses grow, save money, raise their profile and build their contacts throughout Norfolk”

“The USP of the Chamber is that we have a 800 business membership with medium-to-large corporate businesses active within the network, thus giving the new enterprises an opportunity to meet and engage with influential business leaders from all sectors. The 40 new start up businesses who have joined us since April are already reaping the benefits

“Never has there been a more important time to look at a increasing brand awareness within the business community and using the Chamber network to communicate brand awareness is an extremely cost-effective way of marketing.

“As part of Enterprise Week we are launching a start-up part to our website www.norfolkchamber.co.uk/start-up dedicated to help new businesses to find their way around the support on offer. If you are a new business under 12 months old they have a special rate of £8.25+vat per month.”