§ 3.20 p.m.
§ Lord AucklandMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures they propose to take to increase the volume of trade with Czechoslovakia, following the recent visit to Eastern Europe by the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary.
§ Lord Lucas of ChilworthMy Lords, my right honourable friend the Minister for Trade has recently returned from Czechoslovakia, where he followed up points made by my right honourable friend the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary in April and endorsed the efforts of British firms trying to win business. A representative team of United Kingdom industrialists and bankers will participate in the 13th Annual United Kingdom/Czechoslovak Joint Commission to be held in London between 1st and 5th July of this year.
§ Lord AucklandMy Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister for that informative Answer to my Question. Is he aware that several years ago I went to Czechoslovakia under the auspices of the Inter-Parliamentary Union with several noble and honourable friends from the other place? During that time, inter alia, we had some very useful discussions with representatives of their chemical industry. Is my noble friend further aware that the visit of my right honourable and learned friend the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary was an impressive one? Can 846 he also confirm that he will be going to the Brno Fair in September as a representative of Her Majesty's Government? If so, perhaps I may say that he will have the very best wishes of all sides of your Lordships' House.
§ Lord Lucas of ChilworthMy Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend Lord Auckland; and, indeed, the whole House will be aware of the noble Lord's interest in export and import matters, and trade generally with Czechoslovakia, for which we are grateful. I confirm that chemical materials and products are in fact one of the most important of our exports to Czechoslovakia. Again, I confirm that in September the British Overseas Trade Board will give financial support for a joint ventuure at the Brno Trade Fair, which I shall attend on behalf of Her Majesty's Government.
Lord Bruce of DoningtonMy Lords, will the noble Lord confirm that our trade deficit with Czechoslovakia for 1984 was slightly over £39 million? Has his department drawn the attention of British industry to any specialist fields which the Ministry itself thinks ought to be pursued more vigorously by industrialists in the United Kingdom?
§ Lord Lucas of ChilworthMy Lords, I confirm to the noble Lord, Lord Bruce of Donington, that there was a balance of trade in favour of Czechoslovakia. I confirm also that most of the top ten exports to Czechoslavakia have some relevance to the work of my department, and by the two methods which I described in my earlier answers we are encouraging the promotion of further business in those areas.
§ Lord BottomleyMy Lords, while the noble Lord, Lord Auckland, reminisces, perhaps I may recall that I conducted the trade talks with the Czechoslovaks soon after the war, and the standard of trade then was much higher than it is today.
§ Lord Lucas of ChilworthMy Lords, of course I remember the noble Lord, Lord Bottomley, having trade talks when he was in another place. I fear, however, that I cannot remember the balance of trade figures at that time.