Daniel Kawczynski leads trade delegation to Mongolia to promote British business

During the four-day visit he met a Mongolian dealer selling machinery made by JCB, which has a factory near Cannock in Staffordshire.

He said the quality of British manufacturing had allowed it to capture a significant proportion of the market.

Mr Kawcynski, the Prime Minister's trade envoy, said: "Mongolia’s precarious situation is influenced in particular by dependency on energy and trade with the two giants, Russia and China, that straddle its borders.

"Developing increased trading opportunities with the UK as an exceptionally important and valued third-party neighbour, is seen as a vital element in helping to decrease this dependency."

During the trip he visited the British/Australian copper mine run by Rio Tinto.

"The third largest copper mine in the world is of strategic importance as the largest foreign investment of over 12 billion dollars in the country. We were taken 1.3 kilometres underground to inspect the vast honeycomb network of tunnels where excavation is taking place to mine both copper and gold."

He praised the Mongolian JCB dealership.

"Meeting the owners and their team was a huge privilege and gave me the opportunity to ask how they successfully compete with cheaper Chinese products. Their unequivocal response was that it was the strong British brand and the quality of British manufacturing and product service reputation that has allowed them over a very short period to capture a significant and rapidly expanding proportion of the market."

British companies who joined the MP on the trade delegation were not only involved in mining but also promoting high quality British manufacturing goods and services including agriculture, medicine, health care and financial services.

"As the UK has now left the EU and this year is going to join the new Indo-Pacific CPTPP Trade agreement, recalibrating British global exports to the Far East countries like Mongolia will become increasingly important. British companies should therefore be encouraged to look to far Eastern markets like Mongolia which will be critical for our prosperity agenda.

"Supporting Mongolia to limit its vulnerability to over dependency from Russia and China is also strategically important for the UK. The British brand overseas is extraordinarily highly regarded, and at the Mongolia UK business forum where I gave a keynote address, we received considerable interest from local Mongolian entities wishing to engage with Britain.

"It has therefore been a huge privilege to be part of promoting British products overseas, and I am truly humbled by the warm and positive response that we received from our Mongolian friends and partners.

I would like to sincerely thank the British Ambassador Philip Malone, who accompanied me through the visit and Mr Kevin Ringham the Head of Trade Envoy programme. It is my intention to return to Mongolia later this year to continue expanding our bilateral trade and I look forward to continuing this work in the coming years."