Worldwide Free Trade - Question

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 2:53 pm on 16 April 2018.

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Photo of Baroness Fairhead Baroness Fairhead The Minister of State, Department for International Trade 2:53, 16 April 2018

If we look at the exports total for the UK last year, it increased by over 11%. We therefore have seen export growth. We believe that the EU has to remain an ongoing and really important trading partner. We are working with trade and investment working groups across a number of countries—14 working groups involving 21 countries—in which we are exploring where we can improve trade further. As I said earlier, the CHOGM this week is particularly important because, in many ways, the Commonwealth is an area where we have underinvested in trading relationships. This is a great opportunity for all members of the Commonwealth to change that.