With the future of Britain-European Union (EU) trade on a precipice, simmering post-Brexit uncertainty hasn’t deterred the United Kingdom (UK) from projecting itself as a re-emerging force in global and particularly Asian trade.
Ahead of what some fear will be a chaotic end to the five-year Brexit process, with the UK set to break with the EU’s single market on December 31, London is already casting its gaze eastward, eyeing bilateral deals and membership in a regional trade bloc.
Last week, the UK announced new trade pacts with Singapore and Vietnam, which International Trade Secretary Liz Truss said would be “vital for the UK’s future as an independent trading nation,” and help make Britain a “global hub for services and technology trade.”
Touted as symbolically extending the UK’s foothold in Asia, both deals largely replicate existing trade agreements that Singapore and Hanoi have with the EU, and could pave the way for similar pacts with nations in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as Britain pledges to take a more active role in regional affairs in the Indo-Pacific.
Read the full story at Asia Times.
Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.
