Lord Browne of Belmont – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Browne of Belmont on 2016-01-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are (1) currently taking, (2) plan to take, to promote trade and investment opportunities between the UK and other Commonwealth countries.

Lord Maude of Horsham

Her Majesty’s Government (HMG) is committed to helping UK business succeed overseas, including in Commonwealth countries. HMG is represented across the Commonwealth and, UK Trade and Investment has offices in around half of all Commonwealth countries as part of its global footprint. Dependent on the scale of opportunities in each country there are a range of export services that business can benefit from. In late 2013, UKTI opened in five new Commonwealth markets, and reinforced teams in four others. There are ten dedicated Prime Minister’s Trade Envoys in Commonwealth countries, charged specifically with the promotion of trade and investment in their respective markets.

I attended the Commonwealth Business Forum in November 2015 in Malta, held in the margins of The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. My participation at this event advanced UK business interests with key decision makers and businesses from other Commonwealth countries.