BREXIT: UK, Colombia, Ecuador And Peru Seek To Improve Agreements

(RTTNews) - The United Kingdom launched on Wednesday a new trade dialogue with emerging markets in South America, including Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, to strengthen bilateral commerce and investment, and to maintain trade ties due to the Brexit.

"By leaving the European Union (EU), we must look abroad and be a beacon for free trade by forging independent trade agreements with growing economies around the world," said the U.K. Trade and Investment Secretary Greg Hands in a statement.

"That's why, as an international economic department, we are activating new trade dialogues with emerging markets in Latin America. We want to have continuous access to export opportunities for British companies," Hands said.

The British official also announced that the government's export credit agency, the U.K. Export Finance, will double financial support for trade between the U.K. and Peru, offering up to 4 billion pounds of financing to exporters and British buyers of goods and services in Peru.

Total trade in goods and services between the UK and all South American countries reached 12.4 billion pounds in 2015. The U.K.'s largest exports to the region include spirits, cars and medical equipment.