A fresh breeze is blowing through Whitehall.

After years of benign neglect, the commercial legal sector has been recognised by the government as an engine for economic growth, deserving of support abroad.

In its action plan published last week, Plan for Growth: Promoting the UK’s Legal Sector, the Ministry of Justice undertakes to promote UK legal services abroad by seeking to break down regulatory barriers in overseas markets and by facilitating promotional activities.

Among other things, British embassies will have access to an online toolkit to assist them in explaining the value of UK legal services, and members of the profession will be included on ministerial and lord mayoral visits.

The initiative has been warmly welcomed by TheCityUK, whose legal services and dispute resolution committee will be assisting the ministry in devising a core script for communications.

Most importantly, it signals a recognition by the government that investment in the legal sector will yield rewards for the wider economy.

Why has there been a change of heart now, and what more can the government do? Here are some interesting facts and figures.

In 2009, legal services generated £23.1bn, or 1.8% of UK GDP. This included £3.2bn in exports – a staggering three times more than in 1999.

A large slice of these exports is generated by dispute resolution in London. In the Commercial Court, over 80% of the cases do not involve any English parties. This success is mirrored in arbitration.

According to a recent survey by Queen Mary University of London (sponsored by White & Case), 30% of respondent corporations preferred London as a seat for arbitration, with Geneva second on 9%.

The integrity and expertise of English judges and the legal profession are vital components of this success. But the key ingredient is the widespread preference for English law to govern business relations conducted abroad, particularly in the emerging markets.

So why is the MoJ stepping in now?

Well, although there is a real opportunity for English law to take a dominant position in international business, there is competition.

For example, a combination of French and German bar associations recently published a booklet arguing that civil law is to be preferred to common law for business transactions.

This is supported by the French and German justice ministers and the Fondation pour le Droit Continental, an organisation set up to unite continental law legal professionals in the promotion of codified civil law around the world.

Alongside this, despite the absence of any evidence that it is needed or desirable, a group of MEPs is pressing ahead with a long-running initiative to introduce a new ‘optional instrument’ of European contract law, under the guidance of an ‘expert group’.

This group largely consists of academic lawyers, many of whom have been closely involved with the promotion of a European civil code for some time.

Elsewhere, in the emerging markets, English jurisdiction is also under threat from a growing number of regional arbitration centres, such as Maxwell Chambers in Singapore.

It is therefore an opportune time for the government to lend its support, and the Plan for Growth is a good start.

It also coincides with the opening later this year of the Rolls Building, a new state-of-the-art home for business courts in London, and the biggest of its kind in the world.

But it should not end here.

For example, more can be done by the government to resist continental ambitions for a European contract law.

Closer to home, any thoughts of imposing daily trial fees for commercial cases, or otherwise hiking court fees, should be dismissed.

Even if only a handful of cases were lost to London as a result, the additional fees raised would be outweighed by the loss of revenues to the Exchequer.

As a nation, we have a history of taking our world-leading industries and institutions for granted until it is too late.

Investment by the government in the legal sector will be for the benefit of all, and will help build on the undoubted success of English law and lawyers around the globe.

Ted Greeno is a senior litigation partner at Herbert Smith