The future of world trade in the light of Brexit and Trump discussed at briefing

Dr Gerard Lyons, Chief Economic Advisor at Policy Exchange and former Chief Economic Advisor to Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson when Mr Johnson was Mayor of London, joined Asia House corporate members and invited guests for a private briefing and roundtable discussion on Thursday to discuss his views on the critical Brexit negotiations.

Topics discussed at the briefing included the pros and cons of the single market; the challenges and opportunities leaving the EU will present the UK economy; the re-positioning of the UK in a changing global economy; the UK Government’s approach to handling Brexit; the impact of President-elect Trump on world trade; and the UK’s membership of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Dr Gerard Lyons was the co-founder of Economists for Brexit, a group that campaigned to demonstrate the economic upside to leaving the EU.

Dr Lyons spent 27 years in the City in senior roles with Chase, Swiss Bank, DKB International and Standard Chartered. From Jan 2013 to May 2016 he took on the non-political role of Chief Economic Advisor to the Mayor of London Boris Johnson.

Corporate members represented at the table included Arup, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Mitsui & Co. Europe, Aggreko, G3, Heathrow, King’s College London, Linklaters, DLA Piper and GSK. Also present were representatives from Embassies including Japan, the Philippines, Slovenia and the Netherlands.

lucy.tomlinson@asiahouse.co.uk

The next event in the Asia House Brexit Series is on Tuesday 7 February with Mark Bowman, Director General, International Finance, HM Treasury. Mr Bowman will brief Asia House corporate members on the responsibilities of HM Treasury, focusing on the delivery of HM Treasury’s work programme. For more information click here.

To read all the Asia House stories and interviews on Brexit click here.