Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Victoria Prentis and Liam Fox

Thursday 15th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Dr Fox]

We are conducting a joint trade and investment review with China as part of looking ahead to deepen that relationship. Under the UK-China Joint Economic and Trade Commission, we lobby for increased market access sector by sector. I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his comments; it is not the highest publicity aspect of the Department for International Trade, but opening up a sector worth quarter of a billion pounds to Northern Ireland is a big achievement.

[Victoria Prentis (Banbury) (Con)]

Last year, British exports to China grew by 28%. What assessment has the Secretary of State made of how that trajectory will rise over the next few years?

[Dr Fox]

We know from a number of consumer surveys that about 60% of Chinese consumers say that they would pay a higher price for produce just because it is made in the United Kingdom. We are associated with the quality end of the global market, which is the rising market in China, and I expect our exports there to continue to grow apace.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Victoria Prentis and Liam Fox

Thursday 17th May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Dr Fox]

The WTO and the rules-based system is under attack, it has to be said, today. If the WTO did not exist we would have to invent it. There is a need for a rules-based system, otherwise we would have a free-for-all. The alternative to a rules-based system is a deals-based system, which might be fine for some of the biggest economies but would not help many of the smaller developing economies. It is our moral duty to ensure that there is fair play across trade.

[Victoria Prentis (Banbury) (Con)]

5. What steps his Department is taking to increase the level of foreign direct investment into the UK.

[The Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade (Dr Liam Fox)]

To ensure that we continue to be a global leader in attracting foreign direct investment, the Department for International Trade has launched a new FDI strategy that will deliver new ways to target support for those projects that create the most value for investors and national wealth. I am pleased to say that 2016-17 was a record year for FDI projects landing in the UK, showing that the fundamentals of the UK economy are strong.

[Victoria Prentis]

Will my right hon. Friend tell me why, in his assessment, investors choose to invest in the UK?

[Dr Fox]

We regularly ask our investors why they put money in the UK and the answers are very similar. They say that the British legal system provides certainty and predictability. We have a skilled workforce. We have a good, predictable regulatory system and a low-taxation economy. We speak English. We have some of the best universities and some of the best access to tech, and we are in a good time zone for global trading. None of those, incidentally, depends on our membership of the European Union.