Kemi Badenoch attended her first meeting today with members of a bumper Indo-Pacific trade bloc since the UK joined.
The Business and Trade Secretary met ministers from countries in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in San Francisco, California.
Ms Badenoch said ahead of the meeting on Wednesday: “I’m delighted to be here in San Francisco, meeting my CPTPP counterparts and advancing Britain’s rightful place on the world stage.
“As CPTPP’s first ever new member, and the only European member, we are linking the UK to some of the world’s most dynamic economies, giving British businesses first-mover advantage in some of the fastest-growing markets in the world, and supporting jobs and economic growth right across the country.”
It comes after Ms Badenoch signed off UK membership of the major trade bloc in July marking the biggest post-Brexit trade deal to date.
Britain became the first new country – and first European nation – to be welcomed to the pact since its formation in 2018.
Other members are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
The trade bloc is worth £12 trillion in gross domestic product (GDP) with the addition of Britain.
It comes as Ms Badenoch yesterday signed a trade deal with the US state of Florida.
The Memorandum of Understanding brings the total number of trade agreements with US states to seven.
