Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has taken recent steps to facilitate bilateral trade with North Macedonia.

Bilateral trade between the UK and North Macedonia was worth a total of £2.5 billion in the 4 quarters to end of Q4 2023, comprising of £1.7bn of exports and £787 million of imports. North Macedonia is the UK’s largest trading partner in the Western Balkans. The UK’s trade relationship is underpinned by the Partnership, Trade and Cooperation Agreement (PTCA), signed in 2020. The inaugural PTCA Joint Committee met in 2022 and we hope to convene the second version later this year. In September 2023, the UK launched the British-Macedonian Business Chamber, as a symbol of the growing trade & investment partnership.