A Global Britain

The UK Secretary of State for International Trade, Lism Fox, recently launched the UK Export Strategy 2.0.

Here is the end conclusion of his speech:

“Forging a new role for the United Kingdom on the world stage starts with addressing the export challenge.

Since the British people’s decision to leave the European Union, there has been much discussion on the UK’s economic future. Some have expressed doubts about our capacity and willingness to ensure this country remains at the very heart of international trade.

This is a view I fundamentally reject. Brexit is not the occasion to ‘pull up the drawbridge’ – but to embrace the opportunities that the changing pattern of global trade presents.

I truly believe that Brexit is an opportunity. At Chequers, the government agreed its proposal for an economic partnership with the EU after the UK leaves on 29 March next year. It confirmed that the UK will leave the Single Market and the Customs Union and will seize new opportunities from trading with the rest of the world.

But to ensure we are at the forefront of global trade, we must do more. We must raise our ambitions, widen our horizons and expand our timescales. Europe is and will continue to be an important market for our goods and services, but there is a world beyond Europe and a time beyond Brexit.

And as we pursue our first independent trade policy in over 4 decades, we must maximise our global export potential, delivering benefits for business, workers and consumers around the UK. To do this, we must embrace the huge changes underway in global trade patterns, look to the future, and recognise that the time is now to set ourselves on this path to our collective prosperity.

I will repeat again – around 90% of global economic growth in the next 10 to 15 years is expected to be generated outside the European Union. We must adapt to be part of that change. And that is just what this Export Strategy aims to do.

To forge Britain’s future as one of the 21st Century’s great trading nations…

And to build a truly Global Britain”

Link to the entire speech: UK Export Dtrategy 2.0 Speech by Secretary Liam Fox