(Lichfield) (Con)
4. What steps he is taking to strengthen UK trading relations
with Israel in medical research and development; and if he will
make a statement. [911190]
The Secretary of State for International Trade and President of
the Board of Trade (Dr Liam Fox)
Before I answer that question, on the 75th anniversary of D-day
it is worth our reflecting that we in this House are able to ask
and answer questions in a free and democratic Parliament because
of the sacrifices made by those who went before us.
Our dedicated team at the UK embassy in Tel Aviv actively
promotes UK-Israel trade, and there is extensive collaboration on
medical research between the UK and Israel. The UK-Israel Tech
Hub, which is based at the embassy, helps to create tech and
innovation partnerships across several sectors, including
healthcare.
That is very good to hear. My right hon. Friend knows the state
of Israeli technology—for example, all our chips, including the
Intel fifth, sixth and seventh core chips, are developed in
Israel for Intel in America. Magen David Adom, the equivalent of
the Israeli Red Cross, has an app that provides live streaming,
medical history and the location of people who use it, and that
sort of innovation could be of great benefit to the UK. When we
leave the European Union, what will be the advantages of doing
business with Israel for both our nations?
Dr Fox
There are huge advantages to our collaboration in or outside the
European Union. To enable us to shine a light on the excellence
that my hon. Friend mentions, on my recent trip to Israel I
agreed with Prime Minister Netanyahu that we will jointly sponsor
a Government high-level trade and investment conference that will
enable us to show the world the best of what both countries have
to offer in the sector mentioned by my hon. Friend.
Mr (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)
I congratulate the Secretary of State on mentioning D-day. My
father served in the Royal Engineers throughout the war, and my
thoughts are of him and our brave troops today.
The Secretary of State is right to say that global trade can take
place only in conditions of peace. Will he back the small group
of MPs from across the House who are trying to create close
relationships between university research in the UK and
university research in Israel?
Dr Fox
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his kind words. He is right—where
we are able to take advantage of the innovation coming out of
universities, we should make every attempt to do so. One reason
that international investors give for putting money into the
United Kingdom is the access to high-quality innovation that
comes from the collaboration between industry and academia. Where
we can take full advantage of that, including with bilateral
relations elsewhere, we should do so.
(Henley) (Con)
The Secretary of State has already mentioned the UK-Israel Tech
Hub, which is the first of its kind and has already generated
business of £85 million. How does he see that developing over the
coming years?
Dr Fox
I see it going from strength to strength, and as greater
investment goes into both economies we will be able to scale up
the innovation and creativity that is clearly shown in the tech
sector. That will be of benefit not only to our two countries,
but to the wider global economy.
(Bradford South) (Lab)
I wish to associate myself fully with the Secretary of State’s
remarks and pay tribute to the sacrifices of the fallen.
What assessment has the Secretary of State made of Israel’s
participation in the agreement on pan-Euro-Mediterranean
cumulation on the trade in medical products between the UK and
the EU? What progress have the Government made in replicating
other agreements between the EU and Israel, including the 2013
EU-Israel agreement on conformity assessment and acceptance of
industrial products?
Dr Fox
As the hon. Lady is aware, we reached a continuity agreement with
Israel on 19 February, which will come into effect as we leave
the European Union. The conformity assessment element of that is
very important because of the number of generic prescriptions
that the NHS takes advantage of that are produced by Israeli
pharmaceutical companies. We will want to see as much continuity
in all those arrangements as possible.
