Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what mechanisms his Department has put in place to track the potential impact of UK-Singapore co-operation on digital trade.

The UK-Singapore Digital Economy Agreement (DEA), and associated Memoranda of Understanding (MoU), support cooperation on key themes of digital trade. We monitor impact via regular dialogue with the Singaporean government, as part of the UK-Singapore free trade agreement subcommittee, and through regular engagement with businesses. Recent business engagement resulted in analysis (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/identifying-new-growth-opportunities-within-the-uk-singapore-dea/identifying-new-uk-growth-opportunities-within-the-uk-singapore-dea-and-future-digital-partnerships) showing that stakeholders believe these MoUs support collaboration and lead to tangible benefits as seen, for example, in pilot projects conducted under the Digital Trade Facilitation MoU. For more on the DEA’s impact on reducing non-tariff barriers, I refer the hon. Member to the answer to UIN 44934: Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament.