Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether critical mineral supply chains are being discussed in Project Defend.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
HM Government continually monitors and assesses the supply of critical minerals.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what opportunities she has identified for further trade co-operation with Israel beyond the trade continuity agreement.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
The United Kingdom-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement provides an ambitious framework to continue to grow our future trading relationship, which totalled £5.1bn in 2019.
We will be working with our Israeli counterparts to reinstate plans to host a bilateral trade and investment summit in the future. Through this engagement, we will seek to secure the United Kingdom’s position as Israel’s number one trade and investment partner in Europe. This includes promoting science, innovation and technology partnerships between both countries, as well as exploring further opportunities for British business in the financial services, infrastructure and manufacturing sectors.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps she is taking to increase trade co-operation between the UK and Israel in the agricultural technology sector.
Answered by Graham Stuart
UK and Israel have a strong and important trading relationship and we are committed to strengthening that relationship. A dedicated DIT team in Tel Aviv British Embassy promotes trade cooperation between UK and Israeli companies.
A UK-Israel Tech Hub, working alongside DIT, creates partnerships between British companies and world class Israeli innovators across tech sectors, including agriculture.
Following the signature of the UK- Israel trade continuity agreement, Israel and UK expressed support for a future summit to be hosted in London aimed at increasing bilateral trade, including Agri-Tech. Planned for 2020, the event is on hold due to current corona circumstances.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps she is taking to strengthen the UK’s trade relationship with Israel in medical research and development during the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Greg Hands
UK and Israeli experts have been closely cooperating on medical research and development throughout the course of the COVID-19 response, including in relation to testing, clinical response, epidemiological management, and the development of vaccines and treatments. This cooperation has been extremely helpful to both sides and has resulted in a number of opportunities for further collaboration.