HC Deb 16 February 1981 vol 999 cc7-9
9. Mr. Bowen Wells

asked the Secretary of State for Trade whether he will list the countries he has visited since May 1979, the costs of the visits and his estimate of the effects on British trade with with those countries.

Mr. Biffen

With permission, I will circulate the list of the countries visited and the costs incurred in the Official Report. It is not possible to estimate the precise effects on our trade of most of the visits undertaken since the benefits are likely to be long term.

Mr. Wells

I thank my right hon. Friend for that answer and look forward to reading the list in the Official Report. Is it true that the Minister for Trade has visited a large number of countries in company with British business men? Has he not thus generated an enormous amount of public interest in British exports, enabled British business men to contact Government people in those countries and so given British exporters a greater opportunity to export British goods?

Mr. Biffen

My hon. Friend is right. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Minister of State, who has been involved in a programme of visits covering practically all the leading 25 export markets with only two or three exceptions.

Mr. Deakins

Do not such visits help the Minister and his colleagues to appreciate the difficulties facing British exporters? If they serve that useful purpose, will he use his influence with his colleagues to achieve an appropriate change in policies which are hindering British business men overseas?

Mr. Biffen

I do not have to leave our shores to be made aware of the difficulties experienced by British industry. It is true that such visits give politicians a closer idea of the problems confronting the commercial and trading communities.

Mr. Waller

Does my right hon. Friend agree that great credit is due to companies which have not sat back in the face of the current recession but which have gone abroad to find new export markets and thereby overcome the recession? Does he agree that the high value of the pound has the advantage, which not all companies have appreciated, of enabling them to keep a marketing presence abroad and to find new markets?

Mr. Biffen

I agree with the first part of my hon. Friends comment. I agree that the high level of British exports bears testimony to the commercial expertise of companies engaged in exporting. The level of sterling clearly has its advantages and disadvantages to people engaged in exports, depending largely upon the domestic cost structure.

Following is the list of countries:

SOS (Trade)—Overseas Visits from May 1979 to Date
Date Countries Visited Cost
John Nott
Non EEC
USA, Fiji, Australia,
13 September–4 October 1979 New Zealand £12,811
23–28 November 1979 Iraq, Saudi Arabia £6,018
Japan, Korea,
18–31 January 1980 Hong Kong £11,945
7–9 February 1980 Switzerland £573
20–22 March 1980 USA £3,658
5–13 May 1980 Brazil £10,808
7–11 July 1980 Nigeria £5,115
18–19 September 1980 France £993
12–15 October 1980 Greece, Austria £2,538
14–16 December 1980 Spain £1,570*
5–10 January 1981 Indonesia £4,506*
EEC
10 July 1979 Brussels £378
20 November 1979 Brussels £970
4 February 1980 Brussels £1,097
11 June 1979 Luxembourg £1,062
25 November 1980 Brussels £431*
Date Countries Visited Cost
John Biffen
Non EEC
16–23 January 1981 India £8,161*
* travel costs only available