Britain’s new government said on Monday it would restart talks on trade agreements with Türkiye, India and countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose Labour Party returned to government after 14 years in opposition following a landslide victory at a July 4 election, has made economic growth the central mission of his government.
Trade talks were paused during the election.
“Restarting talks is the first step toward agreeing on high-quality trade deals. The U.K. needs to give businesses access to international markets, boost jobs, and deliver that growth,” the government said in a statement.
The trade department said the first round of negotiations under the new government was expected to take place in the autumn and would include fresh talks with South Korea, Israel, Switzerland and Türkiye.
Britain already has free trade agreements (FTAs) with those four countries, including Türkiye, which were rolled over when it left the European Union in 2020 but had previously launched talks to update the agreements.
Ankara and London seek to expand the deal to include service sectors such as education, health care, banking, telecommunications, transportation and tourism. They also want to encourage and enhance joint investments and obtain mutual concessions in agricultural products.
Their bilateral trade reached $19 billion last year, and officials have expressed a desire to surpass that volume this year and achieve $20 billion.
