A commission set up by Ed Balls and led by Graham Cole took evidence from thousands of companies to come up with an action plan to increase exports.
Recommendations include reforms to government bodies dealing with exports, more focus on trade and investment in education, and a one-stop shop that simplifies export support for small and medium-sized businesses.
Cole said: “On exports, the clock is ticking and the world isn’t waiting. Business has told us what it wants, when it wants it and how it wants it. There must be a role reversal where government sees business as the customer. Leadership has to come from the top.”
Chuka Umunna, who co-commissioned the report, said it followed disappointing progress on growing Britain’s exports. He said: “Ministers said they would double exports to £1tn and get 100,000 more firms exporting by 2020, but government scheme after government scheme has failed to make a difference and Britain now has a record current account deficit.”