PRESS RELEASE : UK “open for business” as Trade Secretary heads to G7 [July 2024]

The press release issued by the Department for Business and Trade on 16 July 2024.

The UK is back on the world stage and “open for business”, the new Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds will tell a meeting of G7 ministers and businesses today.

On his first international visit in the role, he will tell counterparts at the G7 Trade Ministerial Meeting in Italy that a new level-headed approach on the world stage will allow UK businesses to plan for sustained investment and economic growth over the next decade.

It’s part of the Government’s plan to create a pro-business environment that supports innovation, investment, and high-quality jobs at home. By resetting international relations and tearing down unnecessary barriers to trade, it will also unleash the potential of the great industries which make the UK stand out on the world stage: our excellent research institutions, professional services, advanced manufacturing, and creative industries.

Addressing G7 trade counterparts and business representatives from each country, the Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds will say:

In the UK, we now have a strong government with an even stronger mandate from the British people. One that respects, wants to partner with and is open for business.

My message to you today is simple – Britain is back. A confident, outward-looking, future-facing UK is ready and willing to play our part on the international stage.

We are seeking a closer, more mature, more level-headed relationship with our friends in the European Union – our nearest and largest trading partner, and we also intend to forge better trading relationships with countries around the world.

He will also set out how the UK intends to work with global partners to address some of the most pressing economic challenges ahead, adding:

We are not naïve about the scale of the challenges threatening global stability. Putin’s continued onslaught on Ukraine, disruption to supply chains in the Red Sea and superpowers like China using harmful policies and practises are distorting free, fair trade.

It’s why our Chancellor is pursuing a clear-eyed strategy of ‘securonomics’ – prioritising economic strength and resilience to increase market confidence and spur growth.

Governments cannot rely on the invisible hand of the market to do this for them. Fair, open markets with healthy competition can only be achieved through purposeful interaction between governments, business, and institutions like the G7.

It’s why the UK wants to work in partnership with you to increase supply chain resilience. Doing so gives businesses the confidence to invest and grow by planning not just for the next year but for the next decade.

The Business and Trade Secretary will use the visit to hold his first in-person meetings with his G7 counterparts since being appointed in his new role, including expected meetings with the Vice-President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis and German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck.

These burgeoning relationships will also strengthen both global economic security and supply chain resilience, boosting confidence in domestic and global markets and ensuring that stability is shared by communities across the world.