The FDF’s Dominic Goudie praises Belgian-UK trade links at Royal event
10 May 2022
I had the honour of being invited to speak at an event hosted by HRH Princess Astrid of Belgium as part of a Belgian Economic Mission to the UK.
Among those keeping me company were Belgium’s Minister of Energy Tinne Van der Straeten and Minister-President of Flanders Jan Jambon, as we addressed a large audience of Belgian food and drink businesses seeking to further develop trade links between their country and the UK.
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- Trade
As we already have strong existing trade links with Belgium, I was keen to highlight this parameter – the country is, after all, the UK’s 7th biggest trade partner for export of food and drink.
I praised our shared focus on quality, safety and the environment in food and drink manufacturing processes and how the UK food and drink industry is putting in place ambitious new plans to target untapped export potential around the world.
As we see these plans come to fruition over the coming months and years, this will in turn create exciting new opportunities for Belgian producers to supply the UK food and drink manufacturing industry, complementing our domestic agricultural production.
As Head of International Trade for the FDF, the voice of the UK food and drink industry, I warmly welcomed the initiative of the Belgian Government and industry to convene this event. Collaboration and regular engagement between our nations and industries is key to driving future economic growth.
In particular, I strongly encouraged exporters, importers, intermediaries and ports to actively engage through the FDF-supported Port Users Forum which aims to help better facilitate trade between the UK and near EU markets, including Belgium.
Dominic Goudie, Head of International Trade for the Food and Drink Federation