The Minister for Trade Policy and Economic Security (Mr Douglas Alexander)
I am pleased to announce that the three pillars under the UK-Taiwan enhanced trade partnership, on investment, digital trade, and energy and net zero, were signed on 30 June. The signing took place between the UK representative at the British Office Taipei, Ruth Bradley-Jones, and the Taipei representative to the UK, Vincent Chin-Hsiang Yao. I witnessed this signing alongside Executive Yuan Minister without Portfolio Yang Jen-ni during my trip to Taipei where I also co-chaired the 27th UK-Taiwan trade talks.
The ETP pillars are non-legally binding arrangements which will create frameworks to further enhance trade, investment and economic co-operation between the UK and Taiwan. They build on commitments made under the existing UK-Taiwan ETP signed on 14 November 2023. The ETP pillars will support the unofficial relationship between the UK and Taiwan, delivering benefits to both economies. Their content has been informed by engagement with UK businesses, to ensure that they will deliver tangible results over time, supporting the already strong, long-standing trade relationship between the UK and Taiwan which was worth £9.3 billion in the four quarters to the end of Q4 2024.
The No. 1 priority of this Government is economic growth. “The UK’s Trade Strategy”, launched on 26 June, sets out our approach to maximise trade opportunities to support the UK’s growth mission. Utilising flexible trading arrangements and partnerships, like this ETP, demonstrates this Government’s agile and targeted approach to trade policy, which will be key in driving UK growth.
The digital trade, investment and energy and net zero pillars are available on www.gov.uk.
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