Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft Institute in Germany linking export support services to R&D applications to inform the work of her Department and its links with Innovate UK.

The important link between trade and innovation is reflected throughout the UK Innovation Strategy and, under the Export Strategy, the Department for International Trade (DIT) provides business support across sectors and all stages from research to commercialisation, aligning with Innovate UK and other organisations to promote UK solutions and expertise globally. This includes showcasing UK innovations at international fora - including the ‘Innovation in Medical Technologies’ brochure and MedTech company directory launched at the Medica trade fair this month. DIT already works with the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft Institute on shared objectives, including collaborating on an Innovate UK Artificial Intelligence mission to Germany.