The Manx government is hoping to seize opportunities from Brexit after getting the go-ahead to negotiate new investment treaties with other countries.

As a Crown Dependency and not a sovereign state in its own right, the island has to be given an ’entrustment’ by the UK to negotiate on its own behalf.

The Isle of Man made the same request for entrustment as Jersey and Guernsey and have now been given agreement in principle. Formal sign-off is expected by the UK Ministry of Justice within the month. A so-called Bilateral Investment Treaty is not the same as a ’trade deal’ and is far more limited in scope than a Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

It refers to the protection of investments by individuals and companies from one country in another country on a reciprocal basis.

Most BITs grant investments made by an investor from one country a number of guarantees when they invest in the other country - these typically include fair and equitable treatment of the investment and protection from the investment being seized or nationalised by the government of the other country.

A Manx government spokesman said: ’The Isle of Man, and also Guernsey, made the same request for entrustment as Jersey.

’Once the formal entrustment process has been approved by the UK Ministry of Justice, the Isle of Man would be able to request entrustment if it wished to enter into negotiations on Bilateral Investment Treaties.’

Brexit will allow the UK to negotiate its own FTAs, which may incorporate provisions that relate to investment protection, or negotiate its own free-standing BITs.

Transitioning of existing international agreements and the negotiation of new agreements by the UK is a workstream the Manx government is currently working on with colleagues in the UK as part of the Brexit process.

The spokesman added: ’The Department for Enterprise is also, as part of its Brexit work in particular, but also part of its remit for industry engagement more broadly, engaged with industry representatives to identify opportunities flowing from the Brexit process. This may extend to include the potential benefits of negotiating Bilateral Investment Treaties with target countries, in addition to the BITs which currently extend to include the Isle of Man.We are currently producing a further interim Brexit report, which will provide a further snapshot of the situation, and will reference the developing position in relation to international agreements in general, and trade related agreements in particular.’