Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Trade Relationship with the Middle East

Thursday 15 April 2021 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 2 Partly answered 0 Not answered 0

Key points

  • UK is undertaking a joint trade and investment review with the Gulf Co-operation Council, with total trade exceeding 33 billion in the year to September 2020
  • Britain expresses strong bilateral trading relationships with countries in the Middle East and aims to deepen these ties
  • UK joins in wishing Israel a happy independence day and welcomes the normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain for its positive impact on regional peace and commerce

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Questions & Answers

Q1 Robert Halfon Con
Business & Trade
Context

The MP is concerned about strengthening UK's economic ties with the Middle East, a region of strategic importance for bilateral trade.

Question

What steps she is taking to strengthen the UK's trade relationship with the middle east. As my right hon. Friend knows, we are undertaking a joint trade and investment review with the Gulf Co-operation Council, which saw total trade at over £33 billion in the year to September 2020.

Answer from Ranil Jayawardena

Britain has strong bilateral trading relationships with our friends in the middle east and a clear ambition to deepen them. We are undertaking a joint trade and investment review with the Gulf Co-operation Council, where total trade stood at over £33 billion in the year to September 2020. The Government have also signed trade agreements with Jordan and Lebanon, and just last month we entered into an agreement with the sovereign wealth fund of Abu Dhabi to provide £1 billion of investment into British life sciences.

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Q2 Robert Halfon Con
Foreign Affairs Business & Trade
Context

Today marks Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israeli Independence Day. The MP sees an opportunity for the UK to support Israel's growing relations with Gulf nations.

Question

Today is Yom Ha'atzmaut—Israeli independence day—so I hope that my hon. Friend will wish Israel happy independence day. The normalisation of ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain last year was a hugely positive step not only for regional peace but for commerce, tourism and cultural exchanges. Does my hon. Friend agree that the United Kingdom is well placed to support our ally Israel in developing ties in the region, and will he explore the opportunities that these new trade relationships could bring to our country?

Answer from Ranil Jayawardena

Indeed I do join my right hon. Friend in wishing all Israelis a happy independence day. He is right to recognise the strong relationships that we have with the state of Israel. We welcome the normalisation of relations, which creates many opportunities for increased trade, tourism and cultural links as well. Britain is well placed to support Israel in this endeavour. Total trade between us was £4.9 billion in the year to September 2020, up from the previous year. We are building a framework for a new bilateral science partnership. In addition, the tech hub based in the British embassy in Tel Aviv continues to partner Israeli expertise with British companies, delivering significant benefits to the British economy.

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