British Trade Director in Central Europe: Opportunities for Cooperation with Croatian Exporters are Enormous

At the conference 'Smart Know What Export is For' on Friday, Richlove Mensah, the regional director for trade and investment in Central Europe from the UK Government's Department for International Trade, participated via video link.

The Briton shared in a one-on-one conversation how Brexit has affected the trade of goods and services and diplomatically responded to provocative questions from Lider's journalist Vanja Figenwald about unresolved political relations with Northern Ireland and the results of trade exchange after leaving the European Union. They are working with partners to find common ground; of course, there are difficulties, but everything will be okay, Mensah briefly stated about the situation with the potential secession of Northern Ireland and resolving issues with Brussels.

Data on post-Brexit trade is not very encouraging; a third of British companies doing business with the EU have reported a decline, and 17 percent of British companies have temporarily or permanently ceased cooperation with the EU. Replacing EU partners with contracts with the US is not progressing as expected, but referring to Bloomberg's assessment of Brexit 'No gain, just pain,' Mensah called for waiting until the end of the financial year for objective data before making arbitrary estimates. It is difficult to separate the impact that the coronavirus has had globally on trade from the effects of Brexit, he added.

The British still count on the European market. – Europe is our largest market, our closest neighbor, and it will continue to be a key market for us. Changes in trade relations will go through adjustments, and trade will continue to grow – Mensah is convinced, who also stated that the opportunities for cooperation with Croatian exporters and startups are enormous. Croatian companies with global aspirations can expect support from them, but also profit from a developed financial system. Mensah emphasized that London has been and remains a global financial hub.

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