Advisory Board Member Robin Walker MP quizzes Government on Commonwealth Trade

Robin at CX's launch event

Robin Walker MP, a member of our Advisory Board and the Secretary of Parliament's Commonwealth All-Party Group, has been quizzing the UK government on trade with the Commonwealth.

In the first of a series of questions, he asked what the UK was doing to promote UK-Commonwealth trade, EU-Commonwealth trade, and intra-Commonwealth trade. The Minister responded as follows:

"The European Commission leads on trade negotiations on behalf of the EU and its member states. The UK is a strong advocate of the EU’s ambitious trade agenda and has supported the pursuit of comprehensive trade agreements with several Commonwealth countries. Negotiations on free trade agreements with Canada and Singapore are close to finalisation, we are the EU’s strongest champion of a trade agreement with India, and a joint declaration between EU leaders and the Prime Minister of New Zealand last month paves the way to potential trade negotiations between the EU and New Zealand starting under the next European Commission."

As we have argued before, whether in or out of the EU, the UK needs to be doing all it can to build these links and relationships. In our submission to the IEA's Brexit Prize we put forward an extensive plan of how the UK could do so if it were to leave but for as long as it remains a member, we must keep encouraging these deals and agreements to maximise Commonwealth trade.

Robin also asked about UK Trade and Investment's (UKTI) activities in Commonwealth Markets and was told that the "UKTI has a presence in 23 Commonwealth markets, accounting for approximately 21% of UKTI overseas headcount."

Finally, he asked for greater detail about the UK's trade with Commonwealth countries (beyond the public data that is available for 10 members) but this information was not provided.

British success story in Singapore

Trade

The UK company Serious Games has enjoyed success in Singapore with help from UKTI. They have won projects from "both public and private sector clients, including a contract worth £250,000 with the Ministry of Health." Having decided that South East Asia was to be their target market, they picked Singapore for their regional hub due to our strong connections. Their Managing Director commented:

Singapore was a good fit for us. They share the same language and regulatory systems as the UK and have strong IP protection mechanisms

As UKTI point out in their case study: "Singapore is the UK’s 12th largest export market of goods outside the EU and the sixth largest for services. Many UK firms use Singapore as an entry point into South East Asia and as a result over 700 UK firms have a presence there, with around 250 establishing their Regional HQ’s in Singapore."

Good news for UK-Pakistan trade

Britain and Pakistan

In the pre-Christmas rush, it was easy to miss a couple of bits of good news regarding the UK's trade with Pakistan. The first came with the EU Parliament voting for the Generalised System of Preferences Plus (GSP+) for Pakistan. This came into force yesterday.

While  it may sound bureaucratic and confusing, it has the potential to provide a major boost to trade between the UK and Pakistan. In simple terms it provides improved EU market access and duty-and quota-free access for almost all of Pakistan's exports. Pakistan stands to gain an estimated $500 million and 1 million new jobs from this agreement.

Baroness Warsi, the Foreign Office Minister with responsibility for Pakistan said:

These trade preferences will provide substantial benefits for Pakistan’s economy, bringing sustainable growth and jobs. The vote is also a further sign of a deeper and more effective relationship that benefits both the UK and Pakistan.

This move is something the UK has been pushing for over several years and it's great to see it come in to force. It shows that, even though the UK cannot forge its own trade deals within the EU, it should still do all it can to promote Commonwealth free trade as it did in leading the charge for the EU-Canada trade deal.

This was followed by the 2nd annual UK/Pakistan Trade and Investment Conference in London. Speaking at the Conference, the new UK Minister for Trade and Investment Lord Livingston said:

Pakistan and the UK have a close relationship and trade is at the heart of this relationship - Britain is the top European destination for exports from Pakistan. We are working together to deepen our partnership for the long-term and our Prime Ministers have set us an ambitious target to boost bilateral trade to £3bn by 2015.

The Pakistan High Commissioner to the UK, Mr Wajid Shamsul Hasan agreed saying:

Historically, Britain and Pakistan have always enjoyed substantial trading relationship, with more than 100 British companies operating successfully in Pakistan. Pakistan’s relations with the United Kingdom are on a growth trajectory in all areas of bilateral cooperation including trade, economic growth and development, cultural cooperation, security and education.

Great case studies of UK-Commonwealth trade

A couple of great case studies of UK-Commonwealth trade were highlighted by UKTI last week. The first is of UK educational firm GEM expanding in to India after already building links with Australia, Singapore and the Maldives.

Their Director says that other nations “were interested in sending their students to the UK because it’s a stable environment, has a developed education system and of course English is an international language.”

On the decision to expand in to India, the case study points out that:

“Half of the country’s population of 1.2 billion is under the age of 25, it has close historical and cultural ties with the UK, there’s a high level of English spoken, a vibrant hospitality sector, and an appreciation of overseas training.”

In the opposite direction, the Canadian logistics firm CareGo has established a presence in the UK. Having decided to look abroad, CareGo’s President and CEO commented: “the UK, with its common language and cultural similarities seemed like a good place to start.”

Having now established a base, CareGo now “plans to use its UK experience to expand into India and South East Asia.”

Two great examples of the Commonwealth in action building links and promoting trade.