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.
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.