Bett UK 2024
24-26 January 2024
DBT Commercial Officers
Please use the following links to view the DBT Commercial Officer profiles available for in-person meetings as part of BETT UK 2024.
Attending In-Person:
Amine Souami
Trade and Investment advisor
Amine Souami currently serves as the Trade Adviser at the British Embassy in Algiers, where he holds the role of Education Lead. His main responsibility is to assist British businesses in entering the Algerian market, guiding them through the process of securing contracts and deals.
Prior to his role at the embassy, he worked as the Schools Project Officer at the British Council in Algeria. During that time, Amine actively contributed to one of the most crucial programs focused on reforming schools across the country. Today, he continues his dedication to educational development in Algeria by participating in events like BETT. At these events, he engages with new EdTech providers, offering them insights into the Algerian market and highlighting the exciting opportunities available.
Beyond his advisory role, Amine will be accompanied by a select group of Algerian companies, recognized as key players in the local business landscape. Amine’s journey reflects a commitment to fostering international collaborations, promoting educational reforms, and creating synergies between British and Algerian enterprises.
Maria Sales
Education Business Development Manager
Maria Sales is an International Relations professional dedicated to helping UK organisations with opportunities in the Brazilian Education sector, with a particular focus in EdTech, English Language Training and digital transformation in education.
With a solid background in commercial and policy fronts in a variety of industries, Maria is passionate about Government Affairs and improving global education standards, having partnered with senior Government representatives around the world towards that same goal.
In her current role, Maria is responsible for developing, maintaining, and growing strategic partnerships with key players inside the broader education space, as well as Ministries of Education and other government agencies in Federal and State levels.
Ekaterina Simeonova
Senior Commercial Officer
Managing the educational sector at DBT Sofia with a pronounced focus on TNE partnerships. Holding 7+ years experience within the educational field among which: Teaching Assistant and Consultant at Hult International business school San Francisco CA, (2012-2015) and ESL instructor at the American English Academy Sofia.
Holding Master’s degrees in International Business, Healthcare management and Industrial and Organisational Psychology.
Currently searching for UK Universities interested in forming partnerships with Bulgarian higher education institutions for offering Master’s double degrees and/or PhD exchanges.
Open for offers in the EdTech sector and/or potential collaboration between UK and Bulgarian software companies in providing EdTech solutions on the local market.
Claire Tan
Head of English Language Training, Market Access and Policy
Florence Huang
Head of Education Technology and Higher Education
Claire is the Head of English Language Training, Market Access and Policy at the Department for Business and Trade (DBT). She has joined British Embassy Beijing since 2015, starting with the Advanced Manufacturing and Transport Directorate then the Education and Skills Sector at DBT. Nationwide, she’s now leading on the trade and investment promotion focusing on English Language Training, and oversees Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) work in Northern China.
Claire has extensive experience in working with a wide range of government departments, international organisations and businesses across various sectors. Projects she’s been working on include the first-ever UK-China Online Friendly Skills Competition, UK-China TVET Development Conference during CACIE 2022, UK-China(Dalian) Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Park, CIIE, Red Arrow’s visit during Zhuhai Air Show 2016, and various G2G projects with NDRC, MOHRSS, MOST, and MOE etc. focusing on NEV, green skills and sustainable development.
She studied with University College London and is now with Tsinghua University for a MPA degree.
Florence has joined UK Department for Business and Trade China Team since 2016, with focus on prompting UK-China collaboration in education and skills sector. With extensive experience and network in international education, Florence actively supports UK education providers in exploring business opportunities in China, to form strategic collaboration with Chinese partners from government, business and education institutions. And within DBT Education Team, Florence leads on education technology and higher education nationally and supports on vocational education and professional training in South China. Florence is keen to work with the UK education and training sector to prepare an effective, co-ordinated response to meet market demands.
Tamir Ismail
Education Director - Africa
Tamir leads on education sector activity for Africa at the UK's Department for Business & Trade. He oversees the work of the sector team across 10+ priority markets, as well as the pipeline of education exports and investments across the continent across K12, HE/Tertiary, TVET, ELT and EdTech segments. Tamir and his team are actively supporting a number of UK EdTech providers access opportunities, including public sector large-scale digital transformation projects for ministries of education, to smaller-scale, school-based solutions in the private sector. Prior to working for DBT, Tamir worked for the British Council, and has experience working on projects across the Africa and MENA regions.
Ka Yin Law
Trade & Investment Adviser, Education and Healthcare
Sophia Ip
Associate Director, Education and Healthcare – Trade
Ka Yin is a Trade Adviser at DBT at the British Consulate General Hong Kong. Her role includes identifying demands from the Hong Kong and Macao market and supporting UK Education providers to establish and improve their presence in Hong Kong and Macao.
Sophia has worked in the UK trade and investment team at the British Consulate General in Hong Kong, for over six years leading on the education, healthcare & life sciences sectors. She plays a key role in supporting UK businesses looking to expand to Hong Kong, Macao and the Greater Bay Area. She helps develop strategies to manage relationships with clients and other stakeholders, being responsible for overseeing and co-ordinating implementation, which can include the delivery of trade missions, events and programmes.
Prior to this Sophia has a wealth of experience working in different education organisations including the British Council, the International Affairs Office of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and education consultant, with the majority of time focused on education marketing and student recruitment.
Lucia Morgante
Trade Advisor (Education)
I joined DBT Italy in January 2023 as a trade advisor covering the retail and education sectors and I am based at the British Consulate General in Milan. A core element of my job is to deliver commercial services, guidance, information and practical support to UK business to explore opportunities for growth in the Italian market. I work proactively to identify and to communicate high value opportunities to business and I can provide market insights and research, suggest potential suitable Italian partners and advise on local regulations. DBT Italy regularly organises in person and online webinars to provide companies with local guidance and support to build in-market networks and fruitful partnership with local stakeholders and key local players.
The British Consulate General in Milan and the British Embassy in Rome can also help British businesses amplify their products in the local market through the support of ad hoc communication campaigns as well as the organisation of official events, roundtables and showcases.
Botagoz Seitbekova
Trade Advisor
Botagoz covers the education sector, including schools, higher education, ELT and EdTech. Promoting UK companies and helping British providers to enter the market, she is currently working with local construction companies that build schools and are interested in UK offer. Kazakhstan is experiencing dramatic population growth and high demand in new schools, teachers and professional management.
Within the framework of the Modern School national project 401 new modern schools will be built in the period 2023-2025 to resolve the shortage of school seats, and triple-shift schools. In 2014 there were 2,5mnl students at secondary schools and in 2021 year – already 3,7mln. The figure is growing every year. Today there are 600,000 students in higher education institutions and the number will grow to 1mln in 6-7 years. Currently the Government is taking the initiative to develop an educational hub in HE sector for wider Eurasia. There are 2bln people in Central Asia and Eurasia, 50% of which are under age of 25. Open branch campuses of foreign Universities and enhance the landscape of Trans-National partnerships.
Husna Hashim
Head of Education (Asia Pacific) - Trade
Min Mahayuddin
Senior Trade Manager - Education
Husna leads the APAC Education trade work for Department for Business and Trade which involves developing and delivering campaigns to promote UK business interests. Husna works with UK Education companies to help grow their international revenue across Malaysia and the APAC region. Prior to this, Husna was a Programmes and Partnerships Manager at the British Council and has successfully delivered many regional programmes nationwide including the International Inspiration, the first ever international legacy initiative ever linked to an Olympic and Paralympics Games London 2012. . She was also responsible for the implementation of the National Education Technology project under the Ministry of Education Malaysia.
Min is currently the Senior Trade Manager - Education from the Department of Business & Trade (DBT) based at the British High Commission Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In her role, she is the country lead for work in supporting and promoting UK education in Malaysia. With a professional background spanning almost 17 years in education management, both in private and public service for UK and Malaysia - her experience specialises in marketing and impactful partnerships through a wide range of areas from student recruitment to exams, research, community engagement and most recently director of alumni and university fundraising before joining the DBT team. Among her footprints in the education landscape includes serving in 2 top 100 ranked universities in the world, improving the wellbeing of over 12,500 students in financial distress and in the last two years have raised more than £2.5 million to fund scholarships, mobility, graduate employability initiatives, research endowment, and community development projects. She graduated from the University of East London, UK with a BSc (Hons) in E-Commerce, Master in Publishing (UM) and holds a Diploma in Information Management (UiTM).
Adil El Mezouaghi
Education Sector Deputy Director
Fatim Lakhbabi
Senior Trade Advisor
Adil serves the Department for Business and Trade as the Education Sector Deputy Director for Africa. In his current capacity, Adil works closely with the sector director, country directors and country teams to drive the implementation of a UK pan-Africa education sector plan.
He previously served various institutions internationally in export promotion, investment attraction and human mobility. Adil spent most of his 15+ year career positioning Canada as a destination of study, work and investment in various roles. He is enthusiastic to bring his wealth of contacts and knowledge of Africa to UK stakeholders. Adil is keen to serve UK and African institutions across government, the private sector and sector bodies and associations to advance UK African partnerships in education.
Fatima-Zahra has a large experience in the educational sector as a university professor, researcher, education consultant and professional trainer.
After joining the Department of Business and Trade, she played a crucial role in fostering numerous partnerships and successfully addressing various obstacles.
Nankling Danfulani
Trade Adviser Education, Technology and Creatives
Nankling is a Trade Adviser at the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), where she leads the Technology, Education, and Creatives sector in Nigeria.
She helps international companies export, invest, or enter the Nigerian market, providing advisory, trade missions, and partnerships. She has a track record of ensuring high commercial returns for her clients, such as securing a large contract for a UK edtech company and facilitating a strategic partnership between a Nigerian fintech company and a UK bank.
Previously, she worked as a Product Manager and a Product Marketing Manager in various tech companies, building and launching software products in education, artificial intelligence, finance, and enterprise resource planning. She has experience in agile project management, product development, product marketing, technology consulting, strategy, and KPI development.
She is passionate about bridging the gap between the UK and Nigeria in the tech, education, and creatives sectors, and leveraging her skills and experience to create value and impact for both markets.
Ghufran Abbas
Education Lead - Pakistan
Ghufran is a business graduate from Heriot-Watt University, Scotland, with experience of working in multinational organisations including Exxon Mobil, John Lewis, TheNorthFace etc. Ghufran is an Education & Training sector expert with strong connections across Pakistan in public and private sector. He has been leading on Education for last four years at DBT British High Commission, Pakistan. Ghufran supports UK Companies from EdTech, Higher Education, TVET, Skills, and Schools etc. There are number of UK education companies are successfully working in Pakistan with DBT's support. Ghufran works closely with the government/Ministry of Education and private education stakeholders in order to assist UK companies looking to export to Pakistan.
Ewa Van Veenendaal-Rawicz
Director, Financial & Professional Services and Education Exports
Ewa is Deputy Head of DBT team in Warsaw, Poland. She leads on exports in financial & professional services and education. She also has a regional role, leading a virtual DBT Team focusing on export opportunities in education sector in Central Europe. Her team members are based in British Embassies in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia. The current focus of the team is on UK higher education and promoting UK universities' transnational education partnerships with their Central European counterparts. The team has been also promoting the UK as an attractive study destination. In the education sector, Ewa works closely with her colleagues in Science & Innovation Network and the British Council.
Salymata Sarr
Trade Advisor
Salymata has nearly 7 years professional experience in the private sector. She has successfully expanded company's market share through strategic sales initiatives and handled creative direction of many marketing campaigns through meticulous business planning and effective social media and direct marketing. She currently works as a Trade and Investment Advisor for Senegal. Salymata’s main role is to help British companies to do business in Senegal. She will be representing DBT Senegal at BETT UK 2024 and will be accompanied by the Senegalese delegation.
As a 2022/2023 Chevening scholar, Salymata completed a MSc in International Business at Nottingham Trent University. She also has a master's degree in supply chain management.
Ivana Winbladh
Country Director
Ivana works as the Director of Trade at the British Embassy in Slovakia. She promotes British trade in Slovakia and ensures the UK companies takes advantage of the opportunities that Slovak market offers. Ivana graduated from the University of Economics in Bratislava and is keen to support UK companies in education sector.
Ivana is based overseas but is part of Department for Business and Trade (DBT). We are the department for economic growth. She supports businesses to invest, grow and export, creating jobs and opportunities across the country. Ivana can advise, support, and promote British businesses to grow and export. She can open up new markets for businesses by removing barriers and striking trade deals.
Phumla Mntambo
Senior Trade & Investment Advisor
Phumla is a Trade and Investment Advisor with experience in deal origination, supporting businesses with market entry, facilitating the development and implementation of tailored commercial solutions, and attracting foreign investment to support sustainable and inclusive growth for mutual prosperity across markets.
Over a period of nine years, Phumla has directly contributed to the implementation of business development strategies and the coordination of partnership opportunities involving both local and international stakeholders. She has had the pleasure of building networks with various stakeholders to originate a pipeline of deals in key strategic sectors, including but not limited to Healthcare, Education, Technology, and Financial & Professional Services.
Carmen De la Fuente Garcia
Trade & Investment Advisor
Carmen has been part of DBT since June, although she has been part of the team in the past as an intern. Nowadays, Carmen covers the Education sector among others such as Retail and ODI. Regarding the Education sector recently we did a Roadshow in 3 different cities in Spain with 47 UK Universities attending. From a professional background, Carmen studied a double degree in Economics and International Relations, and recently completed a master’s in international management, also since she was little, she spent every summer in the UK learning English. Prior to working at DBT, Carmen has worked in the private sector, mainly in start-ups related to technology and AI.
Sophia Boukersi
Senior Trade Advisor Education and Skills
Sophia is passionate about helping companies and institutions internationalise their innovative concepts by providing them with customised support in order to make their journey a success. She has over 8 years in international business development and commercial diplomacy working in the British Embassy Paris. Sophia is currently based in the British Embassy Dubai spearheading DBT's work in helping bring educational institutions and companies to the UAE. The UAE hosts the highest number of UK educational institutions outside of the UK. With it's fast-growing economy the UAE government is aiming to upskill its workforce allowing a number of opportunities for growth for established UK Ed-Tech companies. Should you wish to find out more please feel free to contact Sophia for more information.
Phuong Ho
Trade Manager
Phuong looks after the Education and Training Sector in Vietnam since 2006 at the British Consulate-General Ho Chi Minh City. She is travelling to the UK for the Study World London and BETT London Show. On this occasion, she would be delighted to have meetings with UK companies, who have an interest in, or looking to explore further for an expansion into the Viet Nam market. This will enable Phuong to gain an understanding of a company’s activities, products and their specific enquiries. Phuong would be happy to give the company a brief overview of the Viet Nam education sector including the potential business opportunities. She is keen to learn the UK companies' ambitions and how she or the DBT Viet Nam team can offer its support to meet their goal if possible.