Trevelyan: Breaking Digital Trade Barriers to Help UK Businesses Succeed


[ad_1]
  • Secretary of Commerce unveils five-point digital commerce plan in speech at London Tech Week
  • Plan will cut costs for UK businesses, cut red tape and strengthen data protection
  • Figures show that digital commerce is vital to business growth in the UK – valued at £ 326 billion in 2019

The UK needs to dismantle unfair or discriminatory digital trade barriers to help UK businesses export their world-leading services, the International Trade Secretary will say today.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan will deliver the challenge in a virtual keynote speech to kick off London Tech Week in front of an audience of industry leaders – her first speech since her appointment last week.

The Department of International Trade is today to release a five-point plan to create a free and fair digital commerce landscape to help UK businesses and consumers thrive.

Many companies are currently facing obstacles that limit their ability to benefit from digital technology, such as paperless commerce, or forcing them to meet unjustified requirements for localization of data or the disclosure of their intellectual property such as source code.

The simplification of digital commerce will enable businesses in all sectors to reach more customers by making it easier to sell online and helping them to trade efficiently and cheaply.

Consumers will have better access to international marketplaces that offer more variety and more affordable products and services. You will also benefit from a secure digital economy, which will continue to be backed by the UK’s strong data protection safeguards.

As part of the five-point plan, DIT will:

  1. Promote more open digital markets to ensure UK consumers and businesses benefit from better access to digital markets in other countries.
  2. Advocate free and trusted cross-border data flows that make it easier and cheaper for companies using data to trade internationally while maintaining the UK’s high standards for personal data protection.
  3. Work to protect consumers and businesses through enhanced consumer and intellectual property protection.
  4. Promote the development and introduction of innovative digital trading systems such as digital customs processes, electronic contracting and paperless trading, which can reduce bureaucracy and make trading easier, cheaper, faster and safer.
  5. Establish global cooperation in digital trade through free trade agreements with international partners and use our G7 presidency and our seat at the WTO to urge countries to become more open to digital trade.

Foreign Trade Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan said:

We are all dependent on digital commerce, but UK businesses are facing digital barriers in countries with a protectionist approach. I want the UK to break down those barriers and open up new and exciting opportunities for businesses and consumers to improve productivity, jobs and growth.

Our five-point plan is the first step in shaping international digital trade policy for the next few decades. Through our network of international agreements, we are breaking new ground, driving innovative ideas and setting a new gold standard for digital trade.

International digital commerce is already a major driver of productivity and business growth in the UK. The digital sector contributed £ 150.6 billion to the UK economy in 2019 and employed 4.6% of the national workforce.

Last year, the UK agreed a major digital chapter under the Free Trade Agreement with Japan, and negotiations began in June on a cutting-edge digital economy deal with Singapore that pushes the boundaries of digital trade.

In the months ahead, the UK will seek to finalize negotiations with other key partners such as Australia and New Zealand, forge ahead with our accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the UK will continue to be a key partner in the fast-growing Indo-Pacific region. We will also complete the G7’s first trade route and work with our partners to establish some common principles for our approaches to digital commerce.

[ad_2]

About Nina Snider

Check Also

UK heads for recession as GDP falls 0.2% between July and September

B Britain’s ailing economy was headed for recession today, as the latest official data showed …

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.