The UK is looking to build upon the trade deal struck with Australia last year, by targeting specific regions and building its influence in the Indo-Pacific region.
As part of a tour of Australia and other Indo-Pacific countries, trade minister Amanda Milling has announced plans to build trade with Western Australia, the country’s largest state.
The move follows the UK striking deals with two American states recently.
New diplomatic post to develop ties
Trade minister for Asia and the Middle East, Ms Milling is planning to re-establish the diplomatic post of consul general in Perth, who will be tasked with deepening trade and investment ties between the UK and the western third of Australia.
Western Australia accounts for 16 per cent of Australia’s GDP.
She was visiting Perth and Melbourne for meetings with politicians, business and industry leaders, before the trips to Vanuatu and New Zealand.
The Institute of Export & International Trade had previously reported that the UK is pivoting towards Indo-Pacific countries as it looks to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) by the end of 2022.
The trade bloc is one of the fastest-growing in the world, and the UK hopes to gain membership as a crucial post-Brexit dividend.
Trade group to benefit
Graham Zebedee, Chief UK Negotiator for accession to the CPTPP, and Natalie Black, Trade Commissioner for Asia Pacific, claimed the grouping would benefit from the UK’s admission.
“The UK’s accession to CPTPP would be a strong signal of the growing international consensus in favour of free, rules-based trade. As the engine room of the global economy, the Indo-Pacific is the region that will set the standards and forge the rules that govern the technologies and services of the future,” they said.
“As the fifth-largest economy in the world, with a market of 67 million consumers, the UK would be the second-largest economy in the CPTPP, representing a major market opportunity for CPTPP members,” they added.
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