UK missing £10bn in exports

LONDON-The UK is missing out on £10bn worth of exports a year to a group of emerging economies, according to a study by Standard Chartered bank.

Annual exports to what Standard calls the Emerging 7 (China, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Indonesia) are currently worth £24bn.

But the bank, which specialises in financing international trade, calculates it should be £34bn a year.

Of all the G7 countries, the UK could be a big beneficiary of closer trade.

Standard Chartered urges the UK to orientate its Emerging 7 (E7) trade policy accordingly.

Michael Vrontamitis, the bank’s head of trade for Europe and Americas, said: “With the UK settling into a slower pace of growth and Brexit on the horizon, UK businesses need to look more widely for growth.

“It is clear that the E7 countries represent multi-billion-dollar trading opportunities for the UK and British businesses searching for export diversification and growth.

The study was immediately welcomed by the International Trade Secretary, Liam Fox, who has repeatedly stressed the opportunities that Brexit presents to refocus trade policy on faster growing economies.

He said: “As an international economic department, we are supporting businesses meet this demand, target overseas markets and succeed on the global stage, so we create more jobs and prosperity in every part of the country.”

However, the study does not examine the potential loss of exports to our biggest and closest market - the EU - as a result of Brexit. Many people have questioned whether increased trade with the E7 can offset those losses.