A free trade agreement (FTA) with the United Kingdom is Australia's "top priority," which could be agreed upon in the near future, Australian high commissioner George Brandis told the Sky News broadcaster on Wednesday amid the launched trade talks between the two countries
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th June, 2020) A free trade agreement (FTA) with the United Kingdom is Australia's "top priority," which could be agreed upon in the near future, Australian high commissioner George Brandis told the Sky news broadcaster on Wednesday amid the launched trade talks between the two countries.
"At a time when there are tensions in the world that are growing more acute - and which have been dramatised and thrown in very stark relief by the COVID crisis - the benefit, the importance to each other of like-minded, free-trading liberal democracies like Britain and Australia has never been greater," Brandis said, adding that the FTA could be agreed upon "fairly soon."
The United Kingdom left the European Union on January 31, after three and a half years of protracted negotiations. The country is now working on a number of free trade agreements, including with the Asia-Pacific region comprised of Australia, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly voiced his commitment to creating a "global Britain" that would see the UK building new relations with the international community.
