The UK retail industry needs to think of itself as an international export industry to ensure future growth, business secretary Vince Cable said at Retail Week Live today.

He said the UK’s etail sophistication means it needs to think internationally. “We are way ahead of the rest of the world in this sector. This leads to the idea that we need to think of retail as international. The basic idea is to think of retail as an export industry.”

Cable said the government is working on a range of initiatives to improve international trade for UK online retailers.

“The big emerging markets are where the growth is. But when we get there we find there are big access barriers. It’s difficult, as you know. We’re continuing to negotiate with them.”

He added work is continuing on levelling the playing field for bricks and mortar retailers compared to their online counterparts. “At the bricks and mortar end there’s a resentment in the way tax favours the online right. I acknowledge those concerns.”

Cable also said work is continuing on including the online sector in the EU single market. “In the EU the single market doesn’t apply to e-commerce. There are no rules governing money transmission governing internet trade and one of our top objectives is to improve this.”

Vince Cable on stage at Retail Week Live

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