Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential benefits of appointing a UK trade envoy to Malawi; and whether his Department plans to do so.
Answered by Greg Hands
Prime Minister’s Trade Envoys engage with markets where substantial trade and investment opportunities have been identified by UK government.
The Prime Minister currently has ten Trade Envoys appointed to countries in Africa. They play an important role in enhancing the trade and investment work carried out by our teams on the ground, supporting UK companies exporting and investing in Africa and helping to make progress in efforts to tackle market access barriers. The Department for International Trade does not currently have a presence in Malawi, where the commercial relationship is relatively small. There are no plans to appoint a Trade Envoy to Malawi at this time.