The UK government is in talks to expand its trading relationship with global tech hub Israel, as Britain continues to seek lucrative post-Brexit deals.
Announced by the International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the deal would bolster the trading relationship already worth £5bn.
Growing the relationship between the nations’ tech industries, in particular, is an area of interest for the future deal. The International Trade department is hoping UK tech firms will benefit from a revamped relationship with one of the world’s biggest tech hubs.
Israel has been a major figure in tech for years now, with more than 90 unicorns being founded in the middle eastern nation. Among Israel’s best-known tech firms are trading platform eToro and GPS service Waze.
While the UK already has an established trade deal with Israel, it was agreed long before its tech boom. Now with the demand for digital products and services rapidly growing, the government thought it time to update the relationship.
“The UK and Israel are both modern, hi-tech services superpowers, but our current trading relationship is based on an agreement from 1995, before smartphones, the internet, and digitally delivered services transformed the global economy,” said Trevelyan.
“We want a deal that will play to British strengths while stimulating innovation and increasing opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises across the UK.”
Part of the proposed deal would be to increase the exporting of UK services, like IT, insurtech, and other digital resources.
Israel’s ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely is set to meet with British ministers in London to discuss the new deal.
Daniel Moczulski, the UK managing director of Israeli decacorn eToro responded to the news, saying: “We welcome the launch of UK-Israel trade talks to create more opportunities for innovators in both the UK and Israel.
“The UK market has become incredibly important to eToro’s business, and we are lucky to have a very talented team in London serving a large number of UK retail investors.”
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