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Secretary of State for International Trade Rt. Hon. Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP, arrived in Israel on Tuesday for her debut trip to Israel, kicking off talks towards a new UK-Israel Free Trade Agreement.
The three-day visit aimed to build on the Prime Minister’s strategic commitment to increase trade ties with Israel; with Trevelyan tweeting that she is looking forward to discussing how to “deepen cooperation to forge an even stronger partnership” to create even closer trade and investment ties that will benefit businesses and consumers in both economies.
After landing in Israel, Trevelyan visited the Old City of Jerusalem, including going to the Kotel (Western Wall) and stated how she felt “honoured” to have the opportunity to go there.
During her visit, the International Trade Secretary also had a tour of Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem with the UK’s Ambassador to Israel H.E. Neil Wigan, where she paid paid tribute to Holocaust victims.
On Wednesday, the International Trade Secretary met with Orit Farkash, Israel’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology. They discussed how to strengthen cooperation across vital sectors, particularly in tech and science, how to boost the UK-Israel trading relationship that is currently worth £4.8 billion and the upcoming UK-Israel Innovation Summit this Spring that will showcase innovative British and Israeli companies to stimulate further collaboration.
The Secretary of State then met with the Israeli Minister of Economy, Orna Barbivay, to “to kickstart preparations for a new trade deal that will deepen economic ties between long-standing allies” according to the UK Government’s Press Release. Trevelyan explained the new trade agreement is a key “part of our commitment to build a stronger relationship with Israel and is a huge opportunity to deepen ties with a fellow democracy and tech superpower so together we can create well-paid, high value jobs in both countries”.
As well as meeting with Israeli Ministers, the UK Trade Secretary has also met pioneering tech organisations. She visited the Hebrew University of Jerusalem to see the innovative crop research that the Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment is currently working on. In a tweet Trevelyan praised the agri-tech by stating that “it is with agricultural innovation like this that we will be able to reach net zero & ensure our food supplies are sustainable & secure in the face of #ClimateChange impacts”. In the evening, she hosted a round table event to hear from leading Israeli tech businesses and to discuss “ways to further strengthen UK and Israeli tech collaboration”, as stated by the British embassy in a tweet.
Over 500 Israeli businesses operate in the UK, so on Thursday morning, the Secretary of State met key Israeli investors to discuss why the UK is a great place to invest and future opportunities for investment in sectors such as tech and science. She also visited the construction site for Tel Aviv’s new underground system, stating that there were “lots of opportunities” for UK businesses to join the project and share their expertise.
The International Trade Secretary also travelled to Ramallah in East Jerusalem to meet with Khalid Osaily, the Palestinian Authority’s Minister of National Economy as well as the UK-Palestinian Tech Hub. On Twitter, Trevelyan explained that the aim of the visit was to reaffirm UK’s support for a Two State Solution as well as to discuss economic development and removing trade barriers.
The UK-Israel trade relationship is already strong with £2.7 billion worth of British exports going to Israel in 2020 alone. The UK is Israel’s third largest trading partner and last year, Israeli investment into the UK was worth over £200m and secured hundreds of jobs across the UK. The new trade agreement will aim to play to both countries’ strengths as fellow tech superpowers: boosting the strong trade and investment relationship as well as aiming to create many more high-paying jobs across the UK. The current trade deal with Israel is based on the 1995 agreement between Israel and the EU, and, among other things, it does not specifically consider Israel’s tech sector.
It has been announced that an eight-week consultation has now launched to gain the views of the public and businesses, on the new Trade Deal to make sure that it “works for all of the UK”. This is a standard procedure that occurs before trade negotiations.
