Italy and the UK sign a landmark deal furthering trade

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
8 Feb 16:23
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The new trade agreement between the UK and Italy will increase jobs and wages as well as boost UK exports, according to the UK Business and Trade Secretary.

UK Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch and Italian Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani (Department of International Trade).

The UK Department for International Trade announced on Wednesday that Italy and the UK have signed a trade agreement that would boost their export and investment partnership.

The UK and Italy have signed an agreement to boost their export and investment partnership, marking London's first such deal with an EU country since Brexit.

"[UK Trade Secretary] Kemi Badenoch signs UK-Italy export and investment partnership on a visit to Rome – the first such partnership between the UK and any EU country," the statement by the department read.

The new partnership will increase jobs, wages, and exports in the UK and thus stimulate economic growth. Furthermore, the agreement will "boost a trade relationship worth more than £43 billion [$52 billion]," according to the statement.

"This partnership will boost trade and investment between British and Italian businesses, ease the path for valuable investment, and will crucially grow UK exports as we aim for our target of selling £1 trillion of goods and services a year to the world by the end of the decade," Badenoch said.

According to the UK government, the two countries are both among the world's ten largest economies, with bilateral commerce totaling more than $52 billion. Italy is now the UK's 11th largest commercial partner.

Both countries are facing a cost-of-living crisis, as they are battling rising inflation caused by the backfiring of the West's sanctions on Russia for the war in Ukraine. The sanctions caused a disturbance in energy and global prices, affecting Western countries.