HC Deb 11 January 1995 vol 252 cc139-40
7. Mr. Lidington

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what steps his Department is taking to foster British trade with ASEAN countries.

Mr. Needham

My Department now has in place a wide range of measures to promote trade with the ASEAN countries, including the appointment of six export promoters, who work with our embassies and the Department to provide first-hand advice and assistance to British companies exporting to ASEAN.

Mr. Lidington

I am encouraged by that answer. Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is very important to encourage not just established major British exporters, but small and medium-sized companies, which might feel daunted at the prospect of exporting to south-east Asia, to take advantage of those attractive markets?

Mr. Needham

My hon. Friend is right. For that reason, we are concentrating our efforts on small and medium-sized companies securing orders from ASEAN through the Business Links, the appointment of regional export advisers throughout the country, the provision of export promoters and the large number of additional missions that we are organising. The success of that policy is shown by the fact that, so far this year, our exports to ASEAN countries are up 26 per cent. and their exports to us, one of the most dynamic regions of the world, are up by 5.6 per cent.

Mr. Beggs

What progress are Northern Ireland companies making in developing exports to ASEAN? When might we expect investment to begin from the Investment Forum, which was successfully initiated in Belfast by the Prime Minister?

Mr. Needham

The last part of the hon. Gentleman's question is one for my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. On the first part of the hon. Gentleman's question, I can reassure him and the people of Ulster that companies from Northern Ireland are already enormously successful in ASEAN. For example Mivan is building 3,000 apartments in Thailand; Mackies of Belfast, which was almost on its back three years ago, is now successfully exporting to Indonesia and Malaysia; Shorts has won many orders in that part of the world; and Randox Laboratories has also been successful in the region.

I am sure that the advent of peace has given the business spirit of the people of Ulster an uplift. I have no doubt that those business people will become ever more successful in south-east Asia. I shall do my best to take those people with me whenever I go to that region.

Mr. John Marshall

Does my right hon. Friend agree that the growth of our exports to ASEAN is due in part to the buoyancy of the ASEAN economies? Does he further agree that that buoyancy exists because those economies are deregulated and do not suffer from the obligations and restrictions that the Labour party would impose on the British economy?

Mr. Needham

My hon. Friend is right that ASEAN represents the most successfull, most buoyant and fastest-growing economies in the world because they are capitalist to the core. They know what is important in trying to help the poorest of their people to get work and to improve their living standards. It would be a great help to British businesses if many more Opposition Members went to those countries to see those economies for themselves.