British Economy:

1. British Economy: Lawrence Lui Frank Fritsch

2. Department of Trade and Industry

3. Background • World’s eight largest exporter of goods (£ 191 billion in 2004) • Second largest exporter of services (£ 96 billion in 2004) • Exports are equivalent to around one-quarter of GDP • Highest ratio of inward and outward investment to GDP of any leading economy

4. Goals • Living standards and the competitiveness of our industry depend on our ability to trade and invest freely • Maximizing the opportunities for international trade • Liberalization • Opening the markets of developing countries

5. Trade and Investment: how the UK benefits • lower prices and wider choice for consumers • Promotes economic growth in developed and less developed economies

6. UK trade and investment • UK Trade & Investment is the Government organization that supports companies in the UK doing business internationally and overseas enterprises seeking to set up or expand in the UK

7. UK trade and investment • Has contacts with over 200 different UK embassies that will help with the trading policy

8. Gains from liberalization • Since then, average industrial tariffs of developed countries have fallen from nearly 40% to less than 5% through eight rounds of multilateral trade liberalization • A more liberal investment environment has facilitated increased overseas investment • By 2003 the world stock of foreign direct investment was equivalent to 23% of world GDP compared with 6% in 1982

9. Current: Trade Deficit • Narrowed to 3.9 billion pounds ($6.8 B) • Compared to 5.8 billion pounds in August • Export to EU down 3% • Exports to rest of world up 9%

10. EU Involvement

11. Developing Countries & Trade • Competitive domestic markets • promotes greater use of the market • more stable and less arbitrary policy intervention • stronger competition • macro-economic stability

12. Involvement in multiple organizations to help international trade. • Special/Differential Treatment in the WTO • The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) • Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) • The Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) • EU Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) • Current: Indo-British Partnership Network (IBPN)

13. Presidency of the EU and DTI's four main goals • Better regulation • Open and sustainable markets in an outward facing Europe • Boosting our economies’ potential for research and innovation • Promoting employment • Current: EU budget rebate proposal for 2007 - 2013

14. World Trade Organization Involvement

15. WTO: G8 (G7) • Group of 7/8 • Leaders discuss ways to address major economic and political issues • Who are the G7 Finance Ministers and what is their role?

16. Chancellor: Gordon Brown • The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British cabinet minister responsible for all financial matters • He also has oversight of public spending across Government departments, and is generally second only to the Prime Minister in political power

17. WTO: Hong Kong Summit

18. END. Questions?