British businesses and the UK’s leadership in digital trade will be championed by Trade Minister Chris Bryant at a global business meeting in Germany today [Thursday 23 October].
The Berlin Global Dialogue convenes heads of state, global CEOs and academic leaders, providing a key platform to promote the UK’s Trade and Industrial Strategies on the world stage.
The Minister will use the visit to enhance UK-Germany economic ties, building on our already £150bn trade partnership as well as the UK-Germany Kensington Treaty signed in July by the Prime Minister and Chancellor Merz, an ambitious agenda for our countries to drive growth together.
British businesses are also set to benefit from quicker and cheaper trade with Germany under a new paperless initiative – the Digital Trade Corridors programme. This industry-led scheme is a multi-year initiative under the Government’s Trade Strategy, starting with a set of pilots for businesses trading with Germany and France – two of our most important European partners.
As our second-largest trading partner, Germany is a natural starting point given the scale of our trade flows – over £100 billion of goods a year – and our complementary legal frameworks. The programme will demonstrate how greater use of innovation can make trade faster and more efficient for our companies.
Trade Minister Chris Bryant said:
Our Trade Strategy is clear: make trade faster, cheaper and simpler.
The Digital Trade Corridors programme does exactly that, cutting costs, speeding up deliveries and opening new markets for UK businesses. It’s about driving growth and putting money back in people’s pockets.
The pilots are now open for businesses to sign up and will commence in the new year, trialling electronic trade documents (ETDs) to replace time-consuming, paper-based processes such as invoices, packing lists and bills of lading. For businesses, that means less admin, fewer delays and more time to focus on growth.
It could also mean cheaper exports and faster delivery given recent UK-backed pilots cut costs for businesses by up to 25%, sped up shipments by 40% and increased productivity by 67%.
While in Berlin, the Minister will also meet German State Secretary Thomas Steffen to discuss deepening economic ties and our common projects under the Kensington Treaty.
