The former secretary of state for Scotland will be the UK's trade representative in New Zealand.
David Mundell has been appointed trade envoy to the country as part of the UK Government's push to improve global links post-Brexit.
The MP for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale joins nine other MPs and peers who have also been appointed as trade envoys, including Conor Burns MP to Canada, and Sir Jeffrey Donaldson MP to Cameroon.
Mr Mundell said: "I am delighted to take on this role. There are huge opportunities to increase trade between the UK and New Zealand from a prospective free trade agreement. I will be looking to build on the strong historic links between New Zealand and the UK, but also to grasp new opportunities.
“As Secretary of State for Scotland, I promoted Scottish and UK products and services, from whisky to tech and found a welcoming and receptive audience. Together, I am sure we can turn that positive attitude into real business and subsequently jobs for both countries.”
International Trade Secretary, Liz Truss, said: “Our Trade Envoys play a key role in delivering our ambitious global trade agenda, and I am delighted the Prime Minister has appointed ten Trade Envoys who will boost opportunities for British businesses in some of the world’s fastest growing markets.
“By boosting exports, promoting inward investment and creating high-value, high-paying jobs, our Trade Envoys will help us build back better from Covid-19, ensuring every part of the UK benefits from our trade strategy.”
The latest appointments brings the total number of trade envoys for the UK Government to more than 60, spanning both the House of Lords and Commons.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel