Asked by: Caroline Ansell (Conservative - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, when the Government plans to open a public consultation on an enhanced bilateral free trade agreement with Israel; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The UK is strongly committed to our trade and investment relationship with Israel, worth an estimated £4.8 billion pounds. My Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister has committed to started talks to enhance and improve the UK-Israel Free Trade Agreement this year. Ahead of this, the United Kingdom has published a Call for Input on February 1st, to hear the views of businesses and wider society on how to improve our existing trade agreement with Israel.
Asked by: Caroline Ansell (Conservative - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what discussions she has had with her (a) Emirati, (b) Bahraini and (c) Israeli counterparts on helping those countries expand their commercial ties following the normalisation agreement between those countries.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
The United Kingdom has strong bilateral trading relationships in the Middle East. In the year ending March 2020, bilateral trade stood at £43.7 billion with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and £5.1 billion with Israel.
The United Kingdom-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement was one of the first agreements to be signed by my Department, and we are now exploring opportunities to deepen this further.
In the Gulf, we have launched a Joint Trade and Investment Review with the GCC that will help broaden our trade relationships and realise opportunities in sectors such as education, healthcare, and food and drink.