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Robin Twyman

Robin Twyman

Consul for Business and Government Affairs

Part of Partners in Prosperity

1st July 2011

1 July – It's a good day to trade

It’s almost two years since I arrived out here in DC in the summer of 2009.  The weather’s the same – hot and humid.  But trade politics have got a lot more exciting.  Many eyes are avidly watching what is happening on the Hill concerning the pending US FTAs with Korea, Colombia and Panama.  It’s a bit of a nail biter. 

But on the other side of the Atlantic today, 1 July, the EU’s FTA with South Korea kicks in, eliminating over 98% of tariffs, worth £16bn to EU exporters, and likely to double EU-Korea trade in 20 years.  Bilateral UK/Korea trade is already worth £10bn a year, but this FTA will boost UK exporters’ economic benefits by a further half a billion pounds, in areas like legal and financial services, pharmaceuticals, advanced engineering, low carbon and Scotch Whisky.  No surprise, then, that the Scotch Whisky Association is celebrating it too. 

The UK has a strong interest in open markets and free trade in general – 27% of our GDP is from exports; 1 in 4 UK jobs is linked to business overseas.  So we’ll continue to push for trade deals, like the ones the EU is pursuing with India, Canada, Mercosur and Singapore, and welcome the start of the process for negotiations of an EU FTA with Japan.   And last, but certainly not least, we’ll keep on arguing for the elusive conclusion of a pro-development multilateral Doha trade round.

About Robin Twyman

Robin Twyman took up his posting as Consul for Business and Government Affairs at the UK Government Office in Seattle in January 2013. He was previously First Secretary (Trade Policy,…

Robin Twyman took up his posting as Consul for Business and Government Affairs at the UK Government Office in Seattle in January 2013. He was previously First Secretary (Trade Policy, Business Affairs and Agriculture) at the British Embassy in Washington.

Born in Canterbury, Kent, in 1968, Robin joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1987. His diplomatic career has seen him serve overseas tours in Harare, Zimbabwe (1989-1992), and Geneva, Switzerland (2001-2006), plus short overseas tours in Mozambique, Mauritius, Russia, Abu Dhabi, Israel, Jordan, DR Congo, Albania, Zambia, Qatar, Nigeria, Syria, and Yemen.

Robin’s assignments have covered a wide range of duties. In Geneva, Robin was a UK delegate to the World Trade Organisation, where his portfolio included the Doha Trade Round’s agriculture negotiations, and trade disputes. Whilst there, he was elected to serve as a chair on one of the WTO’s sub-committees. In the FCO in London, Robin has been a Foreign Office Press Officer (1999-2001), Horn of Africa desk officer, a manager for the UK’s Afghanistan Counter Narcotics programme, and headed up the UK’s South Atlantic Overseas Territories team.

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Tags

business eu fta korea Politics scotch trade uk usa