The United Kingdom has launched a network aimed at increasing digital trade and investment opportunities in the Asia Pacific region and also forging partnerships with the region, the British Embassy in Seoul said last week.

The Digital Trade Network in the Asia Pacific is a three-year pilot program co-launched by the U.K. Department for International Trade (DIT) and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

The embassy said the network is expected to increase the U.K.'s digital tech expertise across key markets, including Japan, Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and Australia, and support U.K.-Asia Pacific tech collaborations.

The diplomatic mission also said the launch of the network was timely because demand for digital technology has been increasing in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis and that the network would help IT businesses respond to this demand.

"We're creating a new digital trade network ― starting in the Asia Pacific ― to help our firms break into new markets and negotiating cutting-edge digital chapters in our free trade agreements," U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was quoted as saying. "And as we throw the government's weight behind our tech industry, the U.K. will strive with our friends to design global standards for emerging technologies, safeguarding our values of freedom, openness and pluralism."

Natalie Black, Her Majesty's Trade Commissioner (HMTC) for the Asia Pacific, said the network "will allow us to create new collaborations, driving trade and investment and ensuring we all benefit from the best global digital innovation."

Gerard Grech, chief executive of Tech Nation, the U.K. growth platform for tech companies and leaders, said Asia Pacific is of "huge strategic importance to the U.K."

He said connecting U.K. tech businesses into regional networks would help U.K.-based innovative and research and development businesses make the leap into these new key markets.

The U.K. has committed 8 million pounds ($10 million) to launch and run the network in the region over the next three years.

The U.K. drew more than 10 billion pounds of investments in 2019, ranking third behind the United States and China.

The embassy said the U.K. had demonstrated its strength in creating successful tech businesses in recent years, with 79 tech unicorns developed in the U.K. ― more than Germany, France and Israel combined.

The DIT helps exports, investment, market access and trade "supporting and encouraging U.K. businesses to drive sustainable international growth, ensuring the U.K. remains a leading destination for international investment, opening markets, building a trade framework with new and existing partners that is free and fair and using trade and investment to underpin the government's agenda for a global Britain and its ambitions for prosperity, stability and security worldwide."