News story: Chief Secretary heralds beer exports from Bungay, Suffolk, all the way to Brazil

The Chief Secretary celebrated the latest figures that showed food, drink and agricultural exports from the East of England were worth £1.97 billion, up nearly 10 per cent on the previous year.

The Chief Secretary was hosted by beer exporters in Suffolk and explained what the Government is doing to help improve exports from this important region. She learned that beer from Bungay was being exported to Brazil, Belgium and around the rest of the world.

A booming export market has been vital in helping to grow to the economy and create jobs in the East of England. The East of England employment rate is at a record high and there are 100,000 more businesses in the region now than in 2010.

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss will say:

The East of England is thriving, and is selling the best it has to offer to the rest of the world to enjoy.

The government is hugely committed to ensuring the East of England and its businesses are as competitive and productive as possible in the global marketplace.

And to make sure these positive results get even better, it’s important that businesses have the chance to increase their trade. We are determined to make sure that happens.

The government is already investing more than £3 billion on major road schemes in the East of England, including upgrading 21 miles of the A14, a new link road between the A5 and M1 north of Luton and contributing to the construction of the Norwich Northern Distributor Road.