UK minister seeks trade cooperation with Israel, celebrates women

Kemi Badenoch, Britain's Secretary of State for Business and Trade, President of the Board of Trade and Minister for Women and Equalities, concluded a three-day visit to Israel last week.

This was Badenoch’s first official visit to Israel as a minister and her first international visit as the new Secretary of State for Business and Trade.

During her visit, Badenoch gave a keynote speech at the “Most Promising Entrepreneur of 2023” Competition, organized by “Yazamiyot - Women Entrepreneurs Community” and the British Embassy in Israel to celebrate women’s entrepreneurship.

The minister then continued to a formal business reception at the British Ambassador’s residence, where she met with more than 60 leading UK and Israeli businesses, government officials, exporters and trade representatives. A primary goal of the meetings was to promote the ongoing Free Trade Agreement negotiations between Israel and the UK.

Trade between the UK and Israel

To conclude her visit, Badenoch met with Israel’s Economy Minister Nir Barkat to discuss the free trade agreement negotiations, bilateral relations between the countries and how the countries' markets could benefit from opportunities in areas like tech, financial services and innovative solutions.

“The future of the UK lies in building stronger ties with innovative and tech-driven economies like Israel, and last year trade between our two countries was worth £7 billion,” said Badenoch. “Our current free trade agreement is based on negotiations from the early 1990s, before smartphones, artificial intelligence and the internet transformed our economies – it’s now time to bring this agreement into the 21st century.”

As part of her visit to Israel, the Minister also visited Trigo, an Israeli AI & computer vision start-up aiming to reshape the grocery retail experience, and who recently opened a new store in Central London as part of their partnership with Tesco.

She then visited Teva Pharmaceuticals, the largest manufacturer of generics in the UK and a big part of Israel’s exports to the UK.

“The entrepreneurs and businesses I’ve met in Israel are at the forefront of high-tech, growth sectors of the future and that’s why I’m here to champion an upgraded services-based free trade agreement, strengthen our collaboration on exports, and position the UK as an attractive investment destination,” Badenoch added.

The minister also visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum, where she laid a wreath at the Hall of Remembrance in commemoration of the six million Jewish people murdered in the Holocaust.