HC Deb 19 May 1993 vol 225 cc236-7
13. Mr. Matthew Banks

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many people the Overseas Trade Services employs; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Needham

At present, there are some 2,000 staff engaged in export promotion work within Overseas Trade Services, including those employed in the commercial sections of Foreign and Commonwealth Office posts overseas.

Mr. Matthew Banks

While Britain currently enjoys record export levels, is my hon. Friend satisfied that we are doing everything possible to ensure that there is a proper range of services to help British business men win the orders that they rightly deserve?

Mr. Needham

One can never be satisfied. My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade recently announced a new structure within the DTI which I think will go a long way towards meeting the needs mentioned by my hon. Friend. We have restructured the Overseas Project Board—and are in the process of doing so with the British Overseas Trade Board—to reflect business needs more closely. We have announced the taking on of 100 export promoters, of whom 33 are in place. We are strengthening the relationship between the Foreign Office and the DTI through the joint directorate and linking export promoters with DTI regional offices and, thereafter, this country as a whole. I am sure that, in a short time, we will be giving a package of support to our exporters which will be without equal anywhere in the world.

Mr. Barry Jones

Will the Minister acknowledge the competitiveness of the British aerospace industry, which exported £5.5 billion worth of its products last year? May I tell the Minister of a great little export earner in my constituency, the 125 executive jet made at the Broughton works? May I further tell him of the concern of the work force there—not just worry at the loss of 269 jobs from the production line, but fear that that efficient unit may soon be bought, lock, stock and barrel by an American company? What can the Minister do to assuage the fears of the work force? Is he prepared to visit the factory and to meet management and labour?

Mr. Needham

My right hon. Friend has already visited the plant. Obviously it will be a commercial decision for British Aerospace. The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to congratulate the British Aerospace company and its subsidiaries—and all other companies in aerospace—on the success of their exports, which I am sure will continue.

We can be proud of many other industries in this country, whose export performances are getting better day by day.

Mr. Jacques Arnold

Can my hon. Friend assure us that there will be adequate staffing to ensure the proper packaging of exports of British goods and services, as was carried out in the Kuwait reconstruction and the recent Proyecto Venezuela? It is a very effective way of putting across opportunities for Britain in these markets.

Mr. Needham

My right hon. Friend recently announced an additional 60 posts to deal with the 80 top markets for British exports. As I have said, we are in the process of putting in place an export promotion assistance package that no other country in the world can better.