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European Union (Definition of Treaties) (Republic of Korea Free Trade Agreement) Order 2012

My Lords, I, too, would like to thank the Minister for her statement. I am not opposing this statutory instrument, but I am, like a number of noble Lords, interested in the value of UK trade with Korea. The impact assessment shows a £0.2 billion deficit. Those are the figures under the heading: "““Value of UK trade with Korea””," on page 10 of the document. In goods, there is nearly £1 billion excess on imports. In services, we have some advantage. The noble Lord, Lord Dykes, was right to describe the boosting by £500 million a year as somewhat modest. While I do not want to pour cold water on the enthusiasm of the Minister in this area—I note what she said about BIS and Foreign Office Ministers hosting events, which is a good initiative—I would be interested in hearing from her whether BIS and UKTI will give any special assistance to business exporters and potential exporters of both goods and services. The point that the noble Lord, Lord Edmiston, raised is that these are both—aggressive might not be the right word—enthusiastic and successful exporters. We should not underestimate that. Again, I do not want to sound as though I am opposing the concept of free trade: I am not. But we ought to be cognisant of the nature of competition and understand the importance of giving every assistance and encouragement to our own exporters both in goods and services.