HC Deb 20 July 1949 vol 467 c1348
18. Mr. Keeling

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he is aware that for the new Edfina barrage in the Nile Valley, estimated to cost £3,000,000, not a single British firm was able to tender; and whether he will make representations to the Egyptian Government as to easing the financial and other conditions in Egypt which impede foreign contracts.

Mr. McNeil

British firms were able to tender for the contract for the Edfina barrage but were unwilling to do so owing to the regulations prevailing in Egypt at the time. A memorandum setting out the reasons why British firms had felt discouraged from submitting tenders to Egyptian Government departments was presented to the Egyptian Government in the course of the financial negotiations at the beginning of this year, and His Majesty's Ambassador at Cairo has continued to represent this matter to the Egyptian Government.

Mr. Keeling

Did the memorandum include any suggestion to the Egyptian Government that, in their own interests, they should appoint a consulting engineer for these big contracts?

Mr. McNeil

Yes. We did point out that this was normal practice, and that there were no better firms for this kind of work than those in Britain.