At the end of last month, the Prime Minister undertook the first trade mission of the new Parliament, embarking on a four-day visit to South East Asia.

David Cameron travelled to Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia with a trade delegation comprising representative from businesses located in all regions of the UK. Trade deals worth over £750 million were signed.

During the trip, the PM urged the EU to ‘jump-start’ its proposed trade agreement with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

He said: “We can open up more markets for British businesses by leveraging the power of the EU’s single market with 500 million consumers to secure bold, ambitious trade deals with these fast-growing economies.

"The EU has shown that this can be done with the trade agreement with Singapore and the recent breakthrough in talks with Vietnam, but an EU-ASEAN trade deal would really turbo-charge growth across the single market.”

The PM was joined by Business Secretary Sajid Javid, who was leading the first Northern Powerhouse trade mission, taking 62 companies from the region to Singapore and Malaysia.

The trip comes as Malaysian investor Petra Group announced that 90 highly skilled jobs will be created in the North by its £12 million plan to develop a rubber-recycling manufacturing facility that uses its patented technology.

Mr Javid said: “Our long-term economic plan seeks to re-balance growth across the regions and nations of the UK, and building a Northern Powerhouse will be a key part of this.

This mission — the first of its kind — demonstrates the strength of the northern regions, which are home to some of the most innovative companies and institutions in the world.”

Also travelling with the trade delegation were the Minister for Trade and Investment (Lord Maude) and the Minister for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise (Anna Soubry).