London – While leading a delegation of women entrepreneurs to the United Kingdom, Mary Ng, Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development, met in London with Kemi Badenoch, the United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for Business and Trade.
Minister Ng and Secretary Badenoch discussed the ongoing process for the United Kingdom to accede to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Minister Ng reaffirmed Canada’s support of the United Kingdom’s accession to the CPTPP and encouraged continued momentum following substantive progress made at the last CPTPP Commission meeting in Vietnam. Minister Ng also stressed the importance of including members that can uphold the CPTPP’s high-standard to create new trading opportunities for all parties.
Minister Ng and Secretary Badenoch discussed progress in negotiations toward a Canada-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement; they emphasized the agreement’s focus on shared success in areas including small businesses, environment, and digital trade, and discussed how the agreement must be inclusive to deliver results for underrepresented groups including women entrepreneurs and Indigenous peoples.
Minister Ng and Secretary Badenoch noted the importance of strengthening and maintaining the rules-based multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core. They also discussed the efforts of the Canada-led Ottawa Group on WTO reform, ahead of the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13), which is scheduled for February 2024.
The Minister and the Secretary are looking forward to the upcoming G7 Trade Ministers meeting, and advancing shared priorities under Japan’s G7 presidency.