UK ignoring Brexit’s £323mn impact on poor nations: Report

This file photo shows women work at a garment factory in Savar, Bangladesh.

The UK government is ignoring the impacts of its withdrawal from the European Union on the poor countries that rely on it to create jobs and fight poverty, a new report has warned.

Malawi and Bangladesh are two of the least developed nations that are bound to lose at least £323 million each year if the UK does not guarantee the existing trade terms with them before Brexit, the independent Overseas Development Institute (ODI) in London said in a report.

Titled Post-Brexit Trade Policy and Development, the report warned that although the UK was trying to seize every opportunity and deal with challenges posed by Brexit, it has shown little consideration for the moral duty it has to avoid harming people living in developing countries.

“In this sense, the UK may have a responsibility to secure the continuation of preference regimes that favor developing countries,” said the report, “The UK should therefore, at a minimum, avoid removing the existing benefits and current market access received by the world’s poorest.”

The report, released ahead of the inaugural Commonwealth trade ministers in London, stated that poorer countries have been left out from the discussions, speeches and debates concerning the split.

On the other hand, more developed countries like Brazil, India and China have taken the center stage and have a chance to gain better access to Britain’s market through free trade deals, according to the report.

Nearly 30 percent of the exports out of the Central American country of Belize are destined for the UK. For Bangladesh, the number stands at around 9 percent of overall exports.

 The UK also accounts for 6 percent of total exports by Malawi, in East Africa.

In 2015, London announced a £1.3 billion Prosperity Fund aimed at promoting “growth and prosperity in key partner countries” over a period of five years. China, India and Brazil were the three countries specifically named by the government.

“As the UK now attempts to become a leader in the global economy post-Brexit, it is important that it does not harm the poorest countries in the process. In fact, any new trade agreements should go much further by extending the measures in place which already support trade between the UK and developing country partners,” said Maximiliano Mendez-Parra, senior research fellow at the ODI.