Friday 02 February 2024
The UK Minister of State for Trade Policy and Minister for London, the Rt Hon Greg Hands MP has visited Guernsey.
This is the first time Minister Hands has come to the island and follows longstanding engagement between the States of Guernsey officials and the Department for Business and Trade.
During his time in Guernsey, Minister Hands met with the Chief Minister of Guernsey, Deputy Lyndon Trott, and other members of the Policy & Resources Committee, the Committee for Economic Development and Committee for Home Affairs. Meetings with politicians focussed on the island's current priorities, economic and international trade matters, and financial services and investment. Minister Hands also visited Specsavers and Guernsey Postal Headquarters and met with financial and professional services industry representatives, as well as representatives from Guernsey Finance and the Guernsey Financial Services Commission to discuss matters relating to international trade and investment.
Deputy Trott said:
"It was a real pleasure to offer Minister Hands a very warm welcome to Guernsey for his first official visit to the island. The visit provided an opportunity to discuss how our financial services industry contributes significantly to the UK economy as well as to trading partners around the world. We discussed in detail the data that has been published by Guernsey Finance following the publication of the Frontier Economics Report last month "The Value of Guernsey Finance to the UK".
We had the opportunity to discuss a range of topics with Minister Hands as to what our priorities are in terms of our existing economy and how we position ourselves for the future. I look forward to continuing to engage with Minister Hands as we continue to ensure that Guernsey's interests are included in agreements the UK is negotiating around the world."
