Ranil Jayawardena corrected a written answer on Trade Agreements: Maldives

19 February 2021 · Commons written answer · Department for International Trade

Sir David Amess (Conservative, Southend West) asked written question 149716 on 5 February 2021. Mr Ranil Jayawardena answered on 10 February 2021 for the Department for International Trade, and Mr Ranil Jayawardena corrected the answer on 19 February 2021. The figure £151m in the original became £201m in the correction. Altogether 2 words differ between the two versions.

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps her Department is taking to establish equivalent trading agreements between Maldives and the UK as exist with similar Commonwealth countries.

Original and corrected answer

Struck through: original only. Bold: correction only.

Original	Corrected
British agreements with similar Commonwealth countries were ‘rolled over’ from previous European Union (EU) agreements. My Hon. Friend will know that the Maldives did not have a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the EU. HM Government has not been able to negotiate trade deals with our friends around the world for almost fifty years. Now that we have control of our independent trade policy, the Department for International Trade is actively pursuing agreements with our trading partners, under an ambitious programme of work – including with the United States, Australia and New Zealand – as well as seeking accession to the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The United Kingdom and the Maldives already have a strong bilateral relationship. Trade in goods and services was worth ~~£151m~~ in 2019. In that context, we are working with the Maldivian Government to explore ways to increase trade and investment across a range of sectors of mutual interest, including food and drink, defence, education, fitness and health, and in environmental science and sustainable development.	British agreements with similar Commonwealth countries were ‘rolled over’ from previous European Union (EU) agreements. My Hon. Friend will know that the Maldives did not have a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the EU. HM Government has not been able to negotiate trade deals with our friends around the world for almost fifty years. Now that we have control of our independent trade policy, the Department for International Trade is actively pursuing agreements with our trading partners, under an ambitious programme of work – including with the United States, Australia and New Zealand – as well as seeking accession to the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The United Kingdom and the Maldives already have a strong bilateral relationship. Trade in goods and services was worth £201m in 2019. In that context, we are working with the Maldivian Government to explore ways to increase trade and investment across a range of sectors of mutual interest, including food and drink, defence, education, fitness and health, and in environmental science and sustainable development.

Original

Corrected

British agreements with similar Commonwealth countries were ‘rolled over’ from previous European Union (EU) agreements. My Hon. Friend will know that the Maldives did not have a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the EU.
HM Government has not been able to negotiate trade deals with our friends around the world for almost fifty years. Now that we have control of our independent trade policy, the Department for International Trade is actively pursuing agreements with our trading partners, under an ambitious programme of work – including with the United States, Australia and New Zealand – as well as seeking accession to the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
The United Kingdom and the Maldives already have a strong bilateral relationship. Trade in goods and services was worth ~~£151m~~ in 2019. In that context, we are working with the Maldivian Government to explore ways to increase trade and investment across a range of sectors of mutual interest, including food and drink, defence, education, fitness and health, and in environmental science and sustainable development.

British agreements with similar Commonwealth countries were ‘rolled over’ from previous European Union (EU) agreements. My Hon. Friend will know that the Maldives did not have a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the EU.
HM Government has not been able to negotiate trade deals with our friends around the world for almost fifty years. Now that we have control of our independent trade policy, the Department for International Trade is actively pursuing agreements with our trading partners, under an ambitious programme of work – including with the United States, Australia and New Zealand – as well as seeking accession to the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
The United Kingdom and the Maldives already have a strong bilateral relationship. Trade in goods and services was worth £201m in 2019. In that context, we are working with the Maldivian Government to explore ways to increase trade and investment across a range of sectors of mutual interest, including food and drink, defence, education, fitness and health, and in environmental science and sustainable development.

The question and answer on the Parliament website.

Receipt

Read from	https://questions-statements-api.parliament.uk/api/writtenquestions/questions/1284317?expandMember=true
Date read	15 October 2026
SHA-256	`7353344cb9bf7005d4381cf010fd8f250748ff0bf2f4acb5be9a9f8e047786a0`