BICOM

Britain’s Secretary of State for International Trade, Dr Liam Fox met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday for bilateral trade talks.

Dr Fox said: “Ensuring continuity for our businesses is the best foundation for growing two-way UK-Israel trade and investment. The complementary nature of our economies in areas like science and technology … gives us an obvious opportunity.”

Britain’s Department for International Trade said goods worth $9bn were traded between the UK and Israel in 2017. The number of Israeli companies that set up in the UK after the Brexit referendum increased by 28 per cent, as did Israeli investment in the UK by 33.5 per cent. Israeli-made generic pharmaceuticals are also a major supplier for the NHS.

Prime Minister Theresa May secured a withdrawal agreement with the EU on Sunday that must now be approved by Parliament. Fox’s visit to Israel is expected to be the start of a long campaign as the UK looks to replicate existing EU trade agreements, such as the EU-Israel Association Agreement, to ensure its trade relationships with more than 70 countries continue.

The UK Government says Israel is a priority market for post-Brexit Britain because of the potential synergies between Israel’s high levels of innovation and British strengths in design, business growth and finance, as well as the UK’s own high technology and scientific strengths.

BICOM’s paper on UK-Israel relations after Brexit, published in December 2017, concluded that “there is exceptional potential for growth in bilateral trade and investment, including UK exports to the expanding Israeli market, but this will be harmed if there is no arrangement to ensure the continuation of trade terms currently covered by the EU-Israel Association Agreement”.