§ 15. Ms Jenny JonesIf he will make a statement on his Department's commercial sections' priorities for 199873x2013;99. [31812]
§ Mr. FatchettOur priorities will be to implement a new export initiative based on the recommendations of the Export Forum, and to continue to make the Foreign Office more businesslike through interchange with the private sector.
§ Ms JonesI thank my hon. Friend for that answer. What action is he taking to ensure that the relevant overseas posts are aware of the new priorities in this Government's export drive? What arrangements will be put in place to ensure that, in future, all commercial inquiries are dealt with quickly and effectively?
§ Mr. FatchettOn the final point, we work closely with our colleagues in the Department of Trade and Industry and we will ensure that there is an improved service for potential exporters. It is fair to say that the Foreign Office has become more commercially minded. More than one third of our full front-line staff time is now devoted to export and commercial activity. We have 217 commercial posts, and we are determined to ensure that we become more businesslike and are more successful in selling Britain. We have to improve on the record of the previous Government; we shall do so and are taking all the right steps to do so.
§ Mr. SoamesI thank the hon. Gentleman for his reply. Does he agree that the Foreign Office has, for a long time, 314 been moving towards becoming much more commercial? When I had anything to do with the Foreign Office, I was always very impressed by its effectiveness in promoting British trade. Will the Minister acknowledge the extraordinarily powerful role that is played by defence in commercial diplomacy, not just in terms of weapon sales—where, clearly, the expertise of the British forces and the sophistication of their equipment commands ready markets overseas—but through a range of other goods and services, where the skills of our forces are well deployed in showing how they work so well?
§ Mr. FatchettI am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his opening remarks. I will certainly ensure that those remarks are drawn to the attention of those staff involved in commercial activities. It is important for all of us that we continue to make strong efforts to promote Britain's exports. As the hon. Gentleman knows, defence sales are an important part of Britain's export activities and an important signal of Britain's export technology. We regulate those sales in a manner that has always been exercised by Government. Although we are determined to do that, we shall ensure that there is due process and due support for export industries, including the defence industry.