British Minister of State for Trade Policy Mark Price. Photo: Cabinet Office via Wikimedia Commons.

The British government is looking to bolster trade ties with Israel, a top UK official said this week.

In response to a question posed by Mark McInnes — a Scottish Conservative politician and member of the House of Lords — about the state of the economic relationship between Scotland and the Jewish state, Minister of State for Trade Policy Mark Price said, “The value of trade in goods between Scotland and Israel was £75 million (roughly $100 million) in 2015. This does not include services, which will make this figure considerably higher.”

Price went on to say, “Israel is an important trading partner for the UK and we are committed to further strengthening our important trade relationship.”

In recent years, bilateral trade between Britain and Israel has topped £3 billion annually.

In June 2015, as reported by The Algemeiner, then-British Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Sajid Javid said, “The past few years have been a golden era for Anglo-Israeli business…Over the past 67 years, Israel has made business bloom in the barren desert. What really excites me are the possibilities for the years that lie ahead.”