Stronger UK-Turkey Ties Can Deliver for Welsh Businesses
By strengthening our economic cooperation, we lay the groundwork for securing vital investment, open new export opportunities for our innovative businesses and help create local jobs.
Through their world-leading and pioneering businesses, our nations and regions have a key role to play in delivering growth for the whole of the UK.
Recently I was in Wales, visiting vibrant examples of UK-Turkey collaboration. I was delighted to visit Shotton Paper Mill, one of the largest Turkish investments in the UK, valued at £1 billion, which is set to create hundreds of high-quality jobs in the area.
The plant plays an important role in the circular economy by using 100% recycled paper. It also has an environmentally friendly production model as it purifies its own wastewater, recycling and reusing it in the system. A new Combined and Heat Power facility (CHP) is being developed in the mill to support the expansion of the operation. The CHP facility will supply highly efficient low-carbon energy to the mill, making it energy self-sufficient. The investment will help make the UK a net exporter of containerboard.
This is one of many examples of how international investment can generate exciting projects and deliver local jobs, and why the UK Government is working hard to attract new international businesses into the UK. To underpin this ambition, the UK Government has recently launched the UK's Modern Industrial Strategy, a 10-year plan to promote business investment and growth. We want to make it quicker, easier and cheaper to do business in the UK, giving businesses the confidence to invest and create 1.1 million good, well-paid jobs in thriving industries. We already have a strong relationship with Turkey – this strategy will help to attract more investment into Wales like Shotton Mill, creating more sustainable and stable jobs for local people.
Since my assignment to Turkey as the United Kingdom's Trade Envoy, I have been impressed by the sheer scale of opportunities for Welsh businesses. Turkey has a growing population of 86 million people, and last year alone, Wales exported £231 million worth of goods to Turkey. Trade between the UK and Turkey directly supported around 57,100 jobs across the UK in 2020, and I know this is a number that will continue to grow.
In March, I travelled to Turkey and saw first-hand the commitment to the potential of our relationship and the growing business momentum we have built together. The trading relationship is already diverse – with collaboration in defence, energy, technology, financial services and investments in each other's countries, but a stronger trade relationship with this fast-growing economy will unlock new opportunities for Welsh businesses and contribute to jobs and prosperity in the UK.
This is why the UK Government is undertaking negotiations for an enhanced Free Trade Agreement with Turkey, with the first round recently completing in Ankara. The UK's existing FTA with Turkey replicates the effect of the EU-Turkey Customs Union, but we want to enrich and diversify our trading relationship, as well as making it simpler and easier for Welsh businesses to sell to or buy from Turkey. This will create benefits not only for our major companies but also for SMEs on both sides.
We are not asking Welsh businesses to embark on this mission alone. The Department for Business and Trade has experts in Turkey ready to help you make a success of entering the market. We also have financing support via the UK's export credit agency, UK Export Finance, and training available for those businesses who are new to exporting, and I would encourage any business interested in exporting to Turkey to get in touch via ExportSupport.EECAN@fcdo.gov.uk.
Our nations and regions are at the heart of UK industry and innovation. I want to see even more Welsh businesses taking full advantage of the opportunities in the Turkish market and even more Turkish businesses investing into Wales. I very much look forward to visiting Wales again in the future to witness first-hand the continuing success of UK-Turkey partnership.
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