Global economic activity is pulling away from Europe and the UK must follow, says Truss
The UK will need to shift its trade focus to Asia, as the centre of global economic activity gravitates away from Europe and towards the east.
By the end of this decade, three of the world’s largest four economies will be in the Indo-Pacific region, according to the Department for International Trade (DIT).
In a new report published today, the DIT outlined that the region is set to account for more than 50 per cent of global GDP growth and 44 per cent of global import demand growth over the next thirty years.
International trade secretary Liz Truss is expected to outline the UK’s next phase of trade strategy post-Brexit, in a speech to thinktank Policy Exchange later today,
“In order to seize the opportunities of the future, we need to grow trade with the fastest-growing parts of the world while turbocharging digital and services commerce,” Truss said ahead of the speech.
“We are building a global network of next generation trade deals that are advanced in services and digital trade, and forging closer economic ties with markets in East Asia and the Asia-Pacific.”
The trade secretary wants to bolster international trade for UK businesses, as just one in 10 of British companies currently sell products or services overseas.
And with the demand of the country’s digital and financial services set to double over the next decade, while digital service demand surges 117 per cent, Truss argues that UK trade will highly benefit from the transition.