SAN ANTONIO, 23 April 2007. U.K. Trade & Investment (UKTI) has launched a cross-border initiative aimed at creating new business opportunities for the U.S., Canada, and Mexico through reciprocal trade and investment in the area of homeland and border security. UKTI, the U.K. government's national economic development organization, will host a symposium on May 8 at the Global Border Security Conference in San Antonio for companies seeking to do business with the U.K. Government and private sector.
Technology buyers, federal, state, and local law enforcement leaders and emergency management personnel from across the country, Mexico, Canada and around the world are expected to attend the Global Border Security Conference and Expo. The conference has attracted technology and government leaders in surveillance, firearms training, emergency operations, and communications technology and identity management. Law enforcement officials and solutions integrators including Boeing will be onsite to review new technologies and address cross-border opportunities for cooperation on border security.
The UK delegation includes a cross section of security technology companies such as Birmingham Barbed Tape, Instro Precision Ltd, ICTS UK Ltd, NIS Ltd, Safe Cities Ltd, SELEX Sensors and Airborne Systems Limited, Perseus, and GST, Core Workflow.
Additional speakers and government officials invited and attending include Texas Governor Rick Perry, David Aguilar, Chief of Border Patrol for the Department of Homeland Security, John Clark, Deputy Assistant Secretary for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Dan Shackelford, Associate Director for Small Business, Department of Defense.
Said Michael Rosenberg, Vice President of Homeland Security, for E.J. Krause, "The Global Border Security Conference is the most significant gathering of technology leaders in the world focused on border protection. It is essential that U.S. companies recognize the global opportunities available to them in homeland security technologies. We are proud to be working with UKTI as a strategic partner and believe that the symposium on procurement opportunities on May 8 will be a significant opportunity for cross-border trade and investment."
Terry Shear, UKTI's Washington, D.C.-based Homeland Security Sector Specialist, said, "Forums such as the Global Border Security Conference are valuable opportunities for companies from the UK to showcase their technologies to the US Government and for US companies to introduce their products and services to UK Government representatives. Several of the UK companies that will attend are also looking for contracts and partnerships with the US private sector."
With more than 7,000 miles of border between the U.S., Canada and Mexico, millions of people entering the U.S. each year and with more than 20,000 trucks delivering cargo daily into the U.S. � border security and control are among the most important goals of our government in 2007 and 2008. More than $40 billion dollars have been allocated by federal and state government for homeland and border security.
