HC Deb 29 June 1954 vol 529 c1088
20. Mr. Erroll

asked the President of the Board of Trade what steps he is taking to encourage the implementation of paragraph 86 of the Report of the United Kingdom Trade Mission to Iraq, Kuwait, the Lebanon, Syria and Saudi Arabia, which states that directors and senior officers of companies should pay extended visits to Middle Eastern countries in order to secure the confidence of the people who matter.

Mr. Amory

In his foreword to the Mission's Report, my right hon. Friend invited special attention to the recommendation that in the markets of the Middle East there is no substitute for knowledge acquired by personal visits. He feels confident that firms interested in these markets will bear in mind the importance of visits by their directors or other senior executives.

Mr. Erroll

Will the Minister pass on these remarks to the Board of Inland Revenue?

Mr. Amory

There is the closest cooperation between my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer and my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade in all good causes.

Mr. Gaitskell

Is there the slightest evidence that any of these visits to the Middle East, in order to bump up exports, are in any way stopped by the Inland Revenue officials?

Mr. Amory

I have no evidence of that.

Mr. E. Fletcher

Will the Minister say whom he regards, in the terms of the Question, as the "people who matter?"

Mr. Godfrey Nicholson

The people who natter?