HC Deb 16 April 1940 vol 359 cc767-8
3. Sir Reginald Blair

asked the President of the Board of Trade who, other than members of the Export Council, will be the salesmen to go to foreign countries to obtain personal interviews with private and public buyers in order to obtain customers for the 19 Export Council groups formed under Cmd. 6183?

4 and 5. Sir Joseph Leech

asked the President of the Board of Trade (1) what efforts the Export Council has made to establish permanent local selling representatives in foreign countries with personal knowledge of the goods offered for sale, other than by agents who may also represent non-British manufacturers;

(2) what steps the Export Council is taking to cater on the spot for the several million inhabitants of Argentina and Patagonia who are accustomed to use various qualities and varied types of clothing which they have hitherto bought from non-British producers but which can be easily produced in Britain?

6. Sir Annesley Somerville

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will, with the help of Lord Stamp, Government adviser on economic co-ordination, issue a White Paper explaining what the Export Council is doing to obtain orders for British goods from foreign purchasers who do not send their buyers to Britain, but who require continuous personal contact on the spot with British salesmen possessing technical knowledge of the goods they offer for sale?

2. Mr. Liddall

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that it is essential that the Export Council should seek fresh foreign buyers for British goods in South America and the Near and Far East, in addition to pre-war customers already buyers of British houses; and what steps the council is organising by which to search for fresh customers in foreign countries?

The President of the Board of Trade (Sir Andrew Duncan)

The manufacturing and merchanting interests of this country already have extensive arrangements for maintaining close contact with overseas markets. It is one of the tasks of Export Groups to consider what steps are necessary to improve or augment overseas representation. The Export Council will, in co-operation with the central trade organisations, take whatever general action may appear to be useful in support of the efforts of Export Groups in this direction.