Oral Answers to Questions

Paul Scully Excerpts

Thursday 3rd November 2016 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Paul Scully (Sutton and Cheam) (Con)]

1. What plans he has to strengthen the UK’s trade relationship with Israel as a result of the decision to leave the EU.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Trade (Mark Garnier)]

The UK and Israel have a strong and important trading relationship, with nearly £6 billion in bilateral trade last year. The UK is the No. 1 destination for Israeli foreign direct investment in Europe, and there are now more than 300 Israeli companies established in the UK. I recently visited Israel to discuss investment and trade, and we will continue discussions on strengthening our important trade relationship.

[Paul Scully]

I thank my hon. Friend for that answer. UK-Israel trade is at a record high, with strong ties in science and technology, cyber-security and medical science, but the terms are currently determined by the EU-Israel association agreement. Does he agree that our vote to leave the EU presents a great opportunity to strengthen co-operation between our countries, and will he update the House on progress on planning and securing a new post-Brexit deal with Israel?

[Mark Garnier]

We are taking advantage of all the opportunities presented to us to ensure that Britain becomes a truly global leader in free trade once we leave the EU, and that of course includes Israel, building on our strong relationship in areas such as research and development and cyber-security. For example, we have established the UK-Israel tech hub, which creates partnerships between British companies and world-class Israeli innovators.