Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential for growth in trade and investment between Argentina and the UK.

This is an exciting time in UK-Argentine relations. The Prime Minister was warmly received at the G20 in Buenos Aires in December. Leaving the EU will allow the UK to take advantage of the growing parts of the world economy, including South America.

UK market share in Argentina is less than 1% (0.8%) for goods and just over 2% (2.1%) for services. There is therefore great potential for growth in the UK-Argentine trade and investment relationship and we are working to support UK companies to reclaim their position as one of Argentina’s pre-eminent business partners.

Last year, my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade appointed the first HM Trade Commissioner to Latin America, responsible for championing trade between the UK and Latin America. In addition, my Hon Friend for Fylde (Mark Menzies MP) was announced as the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Argentina in December and is already working to promote further bilateral trade and investment. We also have a UK-Argentine Commercial Dialogue, agreed with the Argentine Commerce Ministry last year and chaired by my Hon Friend the Minister of State for Investment (Graham Stuart).

UK Export Finance has significant capacity to support UK exports to Argentina.