How has the use of bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral agreements changed to drive international trade, investment and economic growth, and what has been the effect of these on UK businesses?
Background
Businesses must be equipped to seize opportunities and navigate challenges in global trade and investment, supporting DBT’s ambition to reset trade relations and champion UK exports. In this changing landscape, we want to know how UK businesses are responding to changes and improvements in market access, breaking down results by sector, business demographic, and type of barrier to overcome. The impacts of geopolitical risks and conflicts may impact, positively or negatively, businesses’ ability to trade. Therefore, being able to map and track configuration of trade routes and formulation of investment strategies will be crucial to continual success.
The topics in this theme relate to enabling businesses to trade effectively and to attract the most competitive foreign investment, creating long-term partnerships that will help UK businesses to thrive. We have included questions on understanding and improving trade with the EU, mechanisms for optimal export and import, how to build effective and resilient free trade agreements, and how to maximise the outputs through the Office for Investment.
Delivering resilient growth through foreign trade and investment requires:
- an understanding of current and future opportunities, challenges, enablers and barriers
- identifying the highest potential markets, sectors and partnerships for success
- building and negotiating free trade agreements that boost growth and protect jobs
- providing support to businesses in the form of access to finance, unifying export support services, and harnessing digitisation
- maximising and promoting the strengths of the Office for Investment, particularly in the area of foreign direct investment
Next steps
Get in touch with [email protected]
Topics
No topics assigned yet
Research fields
No research fields assigned yet
Related UKRI funded projects
-
UK in a Changing Europe Fellowship
What types of trade agreements should the UK join post-Brexit? The world trading system, comprised of multilateral, mega-regional, and bilateral trade agreements offers multiple paths forward for the future of UK trade. ...
Funded by: ESRC
Lead research organisation: University of Cambridge
Why might this be relevant?
The project specifically focuses on the types of trade agreements the UK should join post-Brexit and how these agreements impact globally-engaged firms, aligning with the question's emphasis on the changes in trade agreements and their effects on UK businesses.
-
Creating a Progressive Canada-UK Free Trade Agreement: Gaining Civil Support in a Post-Brexit World
This research comprehensively assesses strategies to strengthen support for an inclusive and progressive Canada-UK FTA in a post-Brexit context. Canada and the United Kingdom (UK) have prospered from a productive commerc...
Funded by: ESRC
Lead research organisation: University of Sussex
Why might this be relevant?
The project explores strategies to strengthen support for a Canada-UK FTA post-Brexit, addressing the impact of Brexit on Canadian exports and investments, which aligns with the question's focus on the effects of trade agreements on UK businesses.
-
The (New) Geography of International Trade and Investment: Exploring the extent to which 'distance' matters in the establishment of economic relations
It is a widely held view among economics and business scholars that the regional trade agreements such as NAFTA and EU have provided benefits to member countries, including Canada and the UK, and that these might be thre...
Funded by: ESRC
Lead research organisation: London School of Economics and Political Science
Why might this be relevant?
The project examines the impact of distance on trade and investment ties with more distant partners, which partially aligns with the question's focus on changes in trade agreements and their effects on UK businesses.