Netherlands PM’s scathing assessment of Brexit Britain: ‘Too small to be on world stage!’
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Britain is trying to firmly establish its shift to the Pacific after becoming a “dialogue partner” of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab attended a virtual signing ceremony marking the occasion earlier this month. Membership of the ASEAN’s “dialogue club” allows the UK to attend annual meetings of foreign and economic ministers, as well as foster greater cooperation over trade, investment, climate change, the environment, science and technology, and education.
The bloc of 10 southeast Asian nations has a combined GDP of £2.3 trillion.
Mr Raab told the Telegraph, “the Indo-Pacific is the growth market of the future, if you take a 10-year period”.
He also said that working closer with ASEAN nations could help the UK’s efforts to “positively influence China”.
The UK has also applied to join the 11-nation Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trade bloc, which also includes ASEAN members Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam.
The government estimates that British exports to the CPTPP area will increase by 65 percent to £37bn by 2030.
UK trade with CPTPP members grew by 8 percent annually between 2016 and 2019.
Negotiations between the UK and Singapore also started recently on a ground-breaking digital economy agreement (DEA) to open up opportunities for British businesses to deliver their services.
As Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s vision for a post-Brexit ‘Global Britain’ is slowly turning into a reality, an interview with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has resurfaced.
Speaking with Spanish newspaper El Pais in February 2019, Mr Rutte warned that the UK looked to be sliding off the “precipice” towards a devastating no deal Brexit.
He said: “Who will be left weakened by Brexit is the United Kingdom.
“It is already weakening, it is a waning country compared to two or three years ago.
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“It is going to become an economy of middling size in the Atlantic Ocean.
“It is neither the US nor the EU.
“It is too small to appear on the world stage on its own.”
Mr Rutte, who claimed the Dutch would have replaced the UK in the bloc as the pre-eminent voice for free trade, also warned that hundreds of companies had plans to relocate across the North Sea from Britain.
He noted: “We can’t stop them from coming here.
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“Every businessman I speak to from the UK is saying they will cut investments, cut their business in the UK.
“It will have an insurmountable impact on the UK.”
Responding to Mr Rutte’s comments, a spokesman for former Prime Minister Theresa May said: “I disagree entirely.
“Employment is at a record high, exports are at a record high, companies are continuing to invest in the UK.
“Deloitte named the UK as Europe’s leading destination for foreign direct investment and London as the world’s top city for investment just last month.”
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