HC Deb 15 March 1989 vol 149 c404
10. Mr. Knapman

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on the progress of recent initiatives on export promotion.

Mr. Newton

It is just two months since the Minister for Trade launched the Department's export initiative. Since then, we have received some 2,000 inquiries in response to our advertisements in the national press alone. We expect the campaign to be very successful in introducing companies with significant export potential to the benefits of exporting.

Mr. Knapman

I thank my right hon. Friend for that helpful reply. Will he bear in mind the problems of constituents such as mine, and particularly the Stroud valleys, where there are many small companies, employing 50, 100 or 200 people, always requiring up to date information about a large number of export markets? Is he aware that they will be unable to gain export orders unless they are aware of the tendering opportunities?

Mr. Newton

Yes, of course, and that is very much a purpose of the enhanced range of DTI services to exporters—not least to small companies which are potential exporters—to improve the range of intelligence and information about which my hon. Friend speaks.

Mr. Allen

Was there anything in yesterday's Budget to increase exports?

Mr. Newton

The entire tenor and purpose of the Budget was to maintain and develop the strength of the British economy, and the confidence in it which has led to an increase in investment, including manufacturing investment, and has given us such a strong export performance.

Mr. Gould

The right hon. Gentleman's answers are totally at variance with the experience of British industry on the ground. How does he square those answers with the fact, well known to him, that a group of major British exporters is bitterly critical of Government policy on export promotion?

Mr. Newton

If the hon. Gentleman thinks that the tenor of his remarks and questions in the House this afternoon, and on a number of previous occasions, reflect the mood of British industry, it is he who is not getting around on the ground.

Mr. John Marshall

Does my right hon. Friend agree that the best way to promote exports is to defeat inflation, which is much more likely to be defeated by the policies of the Budget than by the inherently expansionary and inflationary policies put forward by the Leader of the Opposition yesterday afternoon?

Mr. Newton

In a word, yes.