Exporters (Hansard, 8 July 1992)

§ 10. Ms. Eagle
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what measures he proposes to assist British exporters.

§ 11. Mr. Heppell
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the steps he is taking to back British exporters.

§ Mr. Heseltine
The Government, through their overseas trade services organisation, provide a wide range of help, advice and financial support which is highly regarded by United Kingdom exporters. I announced last Friday my plans for reshaping the DTI, which will further enhance our understanding of exporters' needs and our ability to communicate with them.

§ Ms. Eagle
I am grateful for that response. Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the existence in Britain of Stone Manganese Marine—the last remaining maker of propellers with its own foundry—is being threatened by unfair foreign competition from Poland and Korea? Is he further aware that that company is the holder of three Queen's awards to industry and that 80 per cent. of its turnover is exported, which helps our export effort? What steps will he take to ensure that such high-quality, strategically important companies are not killed off by unfair foreign competition and Government negligence?

§ Mr. Heseltine
I share the hon. Lady's concern that no British company should be threatened by unfair foreign competition. If she or the company concerned will let me have the details, she may be assured that they will be carefully examined.

§ Mr. Heppell
Is the right hon. Gentleman aware of the table in the publication "European Economy" showing that the United Kingdom has the lowest average annual export growth between 1979 and 1990 of any country in the European Community? Does he believe, as I do, that part of the reason for that abysmal record under successive Conservative Governments is the cuts that they have made in export support services?

§ Mr. Heseltine
The hon. Gentleman knows that our exports of manufactured goods are at an all-time high and have grown by 4 per cent. in the past 12 months. I very much hope that when Labour Members set out across the world on their holidays in a fortnight's time they will stop peddling a message of gloom about this country.

§ Sir Michael Grylls
Is my right hon. Friend aware that, despite the very good export record of British firms, some 70 per cent. of companies still do not export? Most of them are small and medium-sized concerns. Will my right hon. Friend pay particular attention to that sector, which needs help and encouragement to penetrate new export markets and thus give assistance to Britain?

§ Mr. Heseltine
I am very sympathetic to my hon. Friend's view and I hope in the near future to set out our plans to improve the service that we give to small and medium-sized companies. I should add that we export a higher proportion of our gross domestic product than virtually any other comparable nation.

§ Mr. Jacques Arnold
Is my right hon. Friend aware of Proyecto Venezuela, which involves the imaginative packaging of opportunities for British firms to export a wide range of products and services to that country? Have we learnt lessons from that, and will there be many opportunities to operate similar products in other countries in the future?

§ Mr. Heseltine
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for drawing my attention to the need to search world markets and explore every avenue to put together the most attractive package for companies exporting from Britain. I hope that we shall be able to build on our already formidable reputation.

§ Mr. Morgan
The Government should be providing measures of substance, rather than the shadow that the President of the Board of Trade with his new title tends to provide. Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that if he really wants to get rid of the doom and gloom being cast over British industry he should insist that the electricity companies charge less to key British industries? The chlor-alkali industry, for example, has approached the right hon. Gentleman. That industry, which is very important in the north-west, has been crippled by a 40 per cent. rise in electricity prices. Steel, aluminium smelting and many other heavy strategic industries are also being crippled by rising profits in the recently privatised electricity industry. Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that those profits are accompanied by big losses in the industries that electricity serves?

§ Mr. Heseltine
The hon. Gentleman has raised an important point. We have established a regulatory system to keep the position under constant review. It is important for us to do that, but it is also important to realise that if we are to have a flourishing manufacturing economy companies must be allowed to make profits commensurate with the need to invest as a consequence of their success. Every time a company makes profits, Labour Members immediately attack it, because they fail to understand that profitability leads to investment and growth.

§ Mr. Page
Does my right hon. Friend agree that what is needed to help British industry is an evaluation of the efficiency and effectiveness of our foreign competitors, and that feeding that information through to British industry will enable it to become more competitive? What will the Department do to help British industry in that regard?

§ Mr. Heseltine
That question goes to the heart of the announcement that I made last Friday. I believe that it is essential for Britain, as a trading economy, to search the world constantly to assess its standards of competitiveness and—even more important—to establish what those standards will be in the decade ahead. I have set up a special division in my Department to advise us in that process.