HC Deb 07 February 1968 vol 758 cc387-8
31. Mr. Lane

asked the President of the Board of Trade what action he is taking to encourage exporters to take full advantage of the opportunities provided by devaluation.

Mrs. Gwyneth Dunwoody

Ministers and officials take every opportunity to bring home to exporters the potential advantages resulting from devaluation through public speeches and meetings, public and private, with organisations representative of industry and commerce. trade associations and individual firms. The B.N.E.C. and its area committees have also been active and my right hon. Friend is particularly grateful to them for the series of Action '68 Conferences which they organised last month in various parts of the country. Hon. Members may have noticed that recent advertisements for Board of Trade services to exporters have emphasised the opportunities for greater volume and higher profits as a result of devaluation.

Mr. Lane

I appreciate what successive Governments have done in this respect. Will the hon. Lady never rest content but particularly try to simplify the paper work involved at all stages of exporting, including Customs procedures?

Mrs. Dunwoody

We in the Department are well aware of the difficulties that can arise and are doing everything we can to assist.

Mr. Biffen

Does the hon. Lady recognise that business men, whether they are selling abroad or at home, are engaged in the most legitimate practice when they try to maximise the profitable return on the assets with which they are entrusted? Will she therefore give an undertaking that the Government will regard profits in a favourable light?

Mrs. Dunwoody

The Government are very anxious that business men shall profit from their sales abroad.

Mrs. Renée Short

What has the Department done to exhort commercial attaches abroad to help increase our exports as a result of devaluation?

Mrs. Dunwoody

I am sure my hon. Friend will agree that commercial attaches abroad are very helpful to any exporter and they do everything they can to assist.

Mr. Frederic Harris

To what extent have English manufacturers not been able to pass on the full benefit of devaluation in their prices because of previous tight margins and the increasing costs with which they are having to contend?

Mrs. Dunwoody

Obviously, there has been a difference between industries in the extent to which devaluation has been of assistance, but I still feel that there is a margin which will be of great assistance to them in overseas markets.