Kemi Badenoch is poised to unveil a deal worth more than £130million to the UK economy during her trade mission to Japan in advance of forthcoming the G7 summit.
The International Trade Secretary has vowed to capitalise on the benefits of membership of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trading bloc.
The mission, focusing on the luxury fashion products manufactured by prestigious designers such as Christy’s and Freya Rose – is the first to be led by Ms Badenoch’s ministry since 2017.
She said: “I’m delighted to be travelling to Japan with iconic British brands to bang the drum for UK business, and help more companies take full advantage of the opportunities on offer from our free trade deals such as the UK-Japan agreement and CPTPP.
“The G7 trade summit gives me the opportunity to continue to champion free and fair trade on behalf of UK PLC, helping remove barriers to trade, strengthen supply chains and ensure the global trade rules work for British businesses.”
The British delegation today met with Japanese fashion buyers with support from the UK Government and will showcase their products – ranging from hand-painted scarves to lab-grown jewellery – at the British Embassy in Tokyo to high-profile Japanese influencers including Yu Masui.
The visit is intended to increase exports of UK luxury brands to the Japanese market and is part of the Business and Trade Secretary’s push to bring the value of UK goods exported to £1trillion by 2030.
In 2022, UK fashion goods exports to Japan totalled £133million, which the department had pledged to boost further.
Ms Badenoch will also represent the UK at the G7 Trade Ministerial Meeting in Osaka, starting on Saturday, where she will once again signal her commitment to free and fair trade, as well as discuss the challenges which the various countries face in diversifying supply chains to meet the needs of the future.
During the two-day programme, Ms Badenoch is expected to meet with her counterparts including Yasutoshi Nishimura, Katherine Tai and EU Commissioner Dombrovkis.
She will also announce the largest UK Government guaranteed loan for a renewables project: more than £130million in UK goods made by Siemens Gamesa in Hull to build an offshore wind farm in Taiwan.
The project is delivered by UK Export Finance in collaboration with NEXI, Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and Mitsu.
The cash will secure jobs and boost the offshore wind industry in the UK and “supercharge” UK-Japan collaboration on renewable projects in developing countries, the Department for International Trade (DIT) said.
Additionally, Ms Badenoch will host a Free Trade Agreement Committee with Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa during which she will look to further deepen the UK’s trading relations with Japan, building on the agreement signed in 2020.
The deal has already benefited British businesses by simplifying the rules of origin and low-zero tariffs, removing significant barriers to trade, the DIT says.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met with Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida in May to agree the Hiroshima Accord.
Britain’s exports to Japan added up to £13.9billion in the four quarters to the end of Q1 2023, an increase of 9.9 percent on the year before.
