Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of securing a bilateral trade agreement with Republic of Maldives.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
The United Kingdom has set an ambitious programme of work through our independent trade policy. British bilateral trade with the Maldives, Nepal and Bhutan respectively sits at £144m, £93m and £2m currently.
HM Government has set out that the Indo-Pacific is a priority, which includes the Maldives, Nepal and Bhutan. We are keen to boost bilateral trade in the region and are currently exploring options to deliver on this.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of securing a bilateral trade agreement with Bhutan.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
The United Kingdom has set an ambitious programme of work through our independent trade policy. British bilateral trade with the Maldives, Nepal and Bhutan respectively sits at £144m, £93m and £2m currently.
HM Government has set out that the Indo-Pacific is a priority, which includes the Maldives, Nepal and Bhutan. We are keen to boost bilateral trade in the region and are currently exploring options to deliver on this.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of securing a bilateral trade agreement with Nepal.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
The United Kingdom has set an ambitious programme of work through our independent trade policy. British bilateral trade with the Maldives, Nepal and Bhutan respectively sits at £144m, £93m and £2m currently.
HM Government has set out that the Indo-Pacific is a priority, which includes the Maldives, Nepal and Bhutan. We are keen to boost bilateral trade in the region and are currently exploring options to deliver on this.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, which countries are included within his Department's definition of the Indopacific and South Asia region.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Indo-Pacific Directorate-General in the FCDO has lead responsibility for relations with the following countries and territories: India and Indian Ocean (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka), North East Asia (China, Hong Kong, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea (DPRK), South Korea (RoK), Taiwan), South East Asia (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste, Vietnam) and Oceania (Australia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu). There is close coordination with other departments leading work on neighbouring countries, especially Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Asked by: Angus Brendan MacNeil (Independent - Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps her Department is taking to secure a free trade agreement with the Maldives; and what steps she plans to take to ensure that agreement eliminates the 20 per cent tariff on tuna imports from that country.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
The United Kingdom is pursuing agreements with a number of trading partners over the next few years already, in an ambitious programme of work, so we are unable to consider a free trade agreement with the Maldives at the present time. We will keep this under review.
The Maldives remains an important partner to the United Kingdom and we are keen to support countries that adopt sustainable fishing methods like the Maldives. My officials are continually exploring opportunities to enhance bilateral trade in important areas, such as food and drink and sustainable development.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what support his Department is providing to the Government of the Maldives to (a) help combat terrorism, (b) support transitional justice mechanisms and (c) support security and defence; and if he will publish the programme documents for those activities.
Answered by Nigel Adams
Through the Conflict, Security, and Stabilisation Fund (CSSF), the UK provides assistance to the Government of Maldives to implement reforms in governance, security and justice and community development. This programme includes supporting the legislative branch, broader governance support on judicial reform and providing military training for the Maldives National Defence Force as part of UK defence engagement. Our counter-terrorism focus includes capability building programmes for protection against terrorist attacks, preparation and resilience from the impact of terrorism, improvements to the criminal justice sector and inter-operability between key Counter Terrorism stakeholders. CSSF programme summaries for 2020/21 will be published before parliament rises for summer.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will publish the human rights risk assessments undertaken for the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund in the Maldives in relation to the Government’s policy on Overseas Security and Justice Assistance.
Answered by Nigel Adams
UK assistance in Maldives is subject to robust Overseas Security and Justice Assistance (OSJA) assessments that analyse the potential human rights, international humanitarian law, political and reputational risks of any proposed assistance to ensure that it supports our values and is consistent with our domestic and international human rights obligations. OSJAs are not published as they are internal documents which include a sensitive UK assessment of the human rights situation in a country at a given time. Disclosure could prejudice the UK's relations with foreign states, as well as its interests and ability to promote those interests. To be useful, OSJA assessments must be honest and remain relevant. In some cases, assessments may draw on material that is not publicly available and has been provided to the UK "in confidence". Disclosure could affect provision of such information in the future and compromise the ability to make sound OSJA assessments going forward.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2021 to Question 149716 on Trade Agreements, what steps her Department is taking to increase (a) trade with and (b) investment in the Maldives fishing industry.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
The Maldives is an important partner for the United Kingdom and my officials are exploring pragmatic options to promote increased trade and investment at present.
We are exploring opportunities to enhance bilateral trade with The Maldives in areas of mutual interest, such as food and drink, defence, education, health and fitness, environmental science, and sustainable development.
HM Government is exploring a range of options for collaboration in financial services and infrastructure development too, including securing green financing to aid Maldivian efforts towards cleaner, renewable energy generation.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 23 March 2021 to Question 171559, what steps she has taken to provide export opportunities for tuna fishermen in the Maldives through an Economic Partnership Agreement.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
The Maldives is an important partner for the United Kingdom and my officials are exploring pragmatic options to promote increased trade and investment at present.
We are exploring opportunities to enhance bilateral trade with The Maldives in areas of mutual interest, such as food and drink, defence, education, health and fitness, environmental science, and sustainable development.
HM Government is exploring a range of options for collaboration in financial services and infrastructure development too, including securing green financing to aid Maldivian efforts towards cleaner, renewable energy generation.
Asked by: Lord Tunnicliffe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what countries the British Armed Forces provided training to on UK territory in (1) 2020, and (2) 2021.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
Personnel from the countries listed in the table below have attended defence education or training in the UK in 2019-20 and 2020-21.
Year | Countries |
2019/20 | AFGHANISTAN ALBANIA ALGERIA ANGOLA ANTIGUA & BARBUDA ARGENTINA ARMENIA AUSTRALIA AUSTRIA AZERBAIJAN BAHAMAS BAHRAIN BANGLADESH BARBADOS BELARUS BELGIUM BELIZE BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA BRAZIL BRUNEI CAMEROON CANADA CHILE CHINA COLOMBIA CROATIA CYPRUS CZECH REPUBLIC DENMARK EGYPT ESTONIA ETHIOPIA FIJI FINLAND FRANCE GAMBIA GEORGIA GERMANY GHANA GREECE GRENADA GUYANA HUNGARY INDIA INDONESIA IRAQ IRELAND ISRAEL ITALY JAMAICA JAPAN JORDAN KAZAKHSTAN KENYA KOSOVO KUWAIT KYRGYZSTAN LATVIA LEBANON LESOTHO LITHUANIA LUXEMBOURG MALAWI MALAYSIA MALDIVES MALI MALTA MAURITIUS MEXICO MOLDOVA MONGOLIA MONTENEGRO MOROCCO MOZAMBIQUE NEPAL NETHERLANDS NEW ZEALAND NIGER NIGERIA NORTH MACEDONIA NORWAY OMAN PAKISTAN OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES PAPUA NEW GUINEA PARAGUAY PHILIPPINES POLAND PORTUGAL QATAR ROMANIA RWANDA SAUDI ARABIA SENEGAL SERBIA SIERRA LEONE SINGAPORE SLOVENIA SOUTH AFRICA SOUTH KOREA SPAIN SRI LANKA SWEDEN SWITZERLAND THAILAND TONGA TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO TURKEY UGANDA UKRAINE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES URUGUAY USA UZBEKISTAN VIETNAM |
2020/21 | AFGHANISTAN ALBANIA ARMENIA AUSTRALIA AUSTRIA AZERBAIJAN BAHAMAS BAHRAIN BANGLADESH BELGIUM BELIZE BHUTAN BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA BOTSWANA BRAZIL BRUNEI CAMEROON CANADA CHILE COLOMBIA CYPRUS CZECH REPUBLIC DENMARK EGYPT ESTONIA ETHIOPIA FIJI FINLAND FRANCE GEORGIA GERMANY GHANA GREECE HUNGARY INDIA INDONESIA IRAQ IRELAND ISRAEL ITALY JAMAICA JAPAN JORDAN KENYA KOSOVO KUWAIT LEBANON LITHUANIA MALAWI MALAYSIA MALDIVES MALI MALTA MOLDOVA MONGOLIA MONTENEGRO MOROCCO NEPAL NETHERLANDS NEW ZEALAND NIGER NIGERIA NORTH MACEDONIA NORWAY OMAN PAKISTAN OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES PARAGUAY POLAND PORTUGAL QATAR ROMANIA SAUDI ARABIA SIERRA LEONE SINGAPORE SLOVAKIA SOUTH KOREA SPAIN SRI LANKA SWITZERLAND THAILAND TONGA TUNISIA UGANDA UKRAINE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES URUGUAY USA |
Note: MOD records information on International Defence Training (IDT) by financial year, rather than by calendar year. Information is taken from a central IDT database. Some activity may not be captured on that database.