Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure UK embassies, high commissions and consulates are promoting trade with the UK.
Mr Hugo Swire
Over the past three years we have put commercial and economic diplomacy at the heart of the FCO’s agenda
We are committed to supporting British business and boosting UK trade as set out in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s (FCO) Charter for Business and UKTI’s Strategy "Britain Open for Business: the Next Phase".
We have opened new missions and reinforced our economic diplomacy staff in many of the fastest growing markets in the world. We have taken steps to strengthen commercial skills at all levels within our Embassies. Ambassadors and their teams across our network are lobbying hard to open markets, promote free trade, support pro-growth policies and counter risks to economic stability. This approach lies at the heart of our G8 agenda on tax, trade and transparency and underpins our on-going work to deliver an ambitious EU-US trade deal.
With UKTI we are delivering a number of ambitious initiatives across the globe to promote trade and investment and boost jobs and growth. The High Value Opportunities programme aims to assist UK businesses to secure £10billion of business in key emerging markets. The Prime Minister has appointed sixteen Trade Envoys who are working with our Embassies and High Commissions to champion opportunities for British business and lobby to improve the business environment and resolve market access issues.
Our Posts are also promoting Britain through the "Great" campaign – a visually powerful campaign that is making real strides in promoting the UK as a modern and innovative country in which to invest and with which do business. Ministers have been urged to travel extensively to support this. We are focusing our efforts on both established markets and those emerging markets where there is high potential for growth in the future.
The FCO and UKTI are also committed to implementing the recommendations of the Public Accounts Committee review: Supporting British Exporters Overseas (see Treasury Minute CM 8847 – 37th Report), a key component in the Government’s ambition to achieve £1 trillion of exports annually by 2020. We have committed to an economic "roadmap" to the £1 trillion target, closer joint working on our trade and investment strategy and on planning across government, and work to address visa barriers to trade and investment.
