Unveiling its new Export Strategy this week, the Department for International Trade (DIT) has set the UK an ambitious target – to increase exports to account for 35 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
At current, British exports account for around 30 per cent of GDP, but the Government believes that this figure can be boosted significantly if more small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) get involved with international trade.
According to the DIT, there are currently approximately 400,000 UK SMEs that believe they have export potential, but have not yet taken the steps necessary to branch out overseas.
In a bid to change this, the department has said that it will aim to support small businesses where possible with export-related information and practical assistance, as well as trying to raise greater awareness of funding and insurance support available to ambitious SMEs through UK Export Finance.
Trade and Export Minister Baroness Fairhead noted that Britain was currently the world’s “sixth largest exporter.”
However, she said that the UK was ‘punching below its potential’ and that the new Export Strategy was determined to change this.
“This Export Strategy sets out to take us from the middle of the G7 to near the top,” she said.
The news comes at a bright time for Britain in terms of trade, after figures unveiled by the DIT recently revealed that UK exports had hit a record high of £620 billion.