Stronger ties with Asia will be critical to becoming a truly global country after Brexit, Treasury Minister John Glen is expected to tell leading financiers next week.
While on a tour of Indonesia, Malaysia and Japan, John Glen, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, will promote the UK’s world leading financial services industry and encourage greater future collaboration in growing markets such as Islamic Finance, Green Finance and Fintech.
John Glen, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, said:
“We’re stepping away from the EU, but we’re not stepping away from the world. The UK and Asia have so much more room to grow together, especially in financial services. Brexit is a golden opportunity to strengthen our ties with our partners across the world, ensuring the UK continues to thrive as a truly global country.”
Asia is an essential business partner with the UK, especially in financial services. Trade between Japan and the UK was worth £28bn last year, with the UK exporting £13.7bn worth of goods and services. Financial services proved to be one of the most important exports, accounting for 54.8% of all UK services exported to Japan.
Trade between the UK and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) – which represents some of the world’s fastest growing economies, including Malaysia and Indonesia – is also increasingly important. The ten ASEAN nations collectively rank as the world’s 6th largest economy, with a combined GDP of $2.5 trillion. UK exports to ASEAN were worth £17.1bn last year, 50.8% of which was in financial or other business services.
The Minister will meet the Finance Ministers of each country, and also address the Nikkei FinTech Summit, Japan’s largest fintech conference, about the future opportunities for the UK and Japan to collaborate.
