Latin America: London Conference (Hansard, 3 March 1997)

§ Viscount Montgomery of Alamein
asked Her Majesty's Government:
What plans they have to follow up their conference in London, "Link into Latin America".

§ The Minister of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Fraser of Carmyllie)
My Lords, an action plan is being finalised by my department and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, in consultation with other bodies, including the Confederation of British Industry, Canning House and the Latin American Trade Advisory Group. The Government also wish to continue with the close involvement of Latin American ambassadors in London.

§ Viscount Montgomery of Alamein
My Lords, that is most helpful. I congratulate my noble and learned friend and his colleagues in the Foreign Office on having organised that conference which, although I missed it because I was away due to the change of date, I understand was a huge success. Can my noble and learned friend tell me how many companies that were brand new to the Latin American market attended the conference, in view of the fact that that was the intended target audience and that the conference sought to strike at new companies not previously involved in Latin America?

§ Lord Fraser of Carmyllie
My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend. We regard the conference as having been a significant success, with no fewer than three Latin American presidents and some 21 Ministers from Latin American countries attending. About 550 people attended the conference, including representatives from nearly 180 British companies. At our best estimate, something like one-third of those were newcomers to the Latin American market. I assure my noble friend that my department intends to make sure that their interest is firmly followed up and that they have every opportunity to take advantage of the markets that are now opening up to them.

§ Lord Ezra
My Lords, the noble and learned Lord gave a positive response to the noble Viscount's Question and referred to an "action plan". Can he give us some indication of the broad thrust of that plan?

§ Lord Fraser of Carmyllie
My Lords, its broad thrust is, as I indicated, that in co-ordination with the CBI, LATAG and Canning House, we intend to take forward the involvement of those new companies, the 1494 "missing majors". Coupled with that, it is important to ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises also understand the opportunities. We certainly want to see further seminars not only in this country but also in Latin America itself.

§ Baroness Hooper
My Lords, in terms of the follow-up to which my noble and learned friend referred, I am delighted to hear of the specific targeting of small and medium-sized businesses. Can my noble and learned friend confirm that in encouraging trade missions involving small companies which may be becoming involved in Latin America for the first time, the DTI will continue to support them with the very helpful subvention that it has made in the past?

§ Lord Fraser of Carmyllie
My Lords, I can give my noble friend that assurance. As I have said, the key targets for that particular conference were the missing major British companies which have been in Latin America in the past and left or which have never been there. As I said to the noble Lord, Lord Ezra, as part of the follow-up to the conference, we wish to continue to focus on the small and medium-sized enterprises. We recognise that there is an effort to be made in terms of following up the campaign not only by my department but by working with Business Links and other trade associations to ensure that we continue to take forward the successful achievements of that conference.

§ Lord Peston
My Lords, I too join the noble Viscount in congratulating the Minister on that conference. I was not there either, but my reason is different: I was not invited—

Noble Lords
Ah!

§ Lord Peston
Yes, I thought that noble Lords might like to hear that. However, may I ask, first, whether any proceedings of the conference will be published and, secondly, to follow the noble Lord, Lord Ezra, whether the action plan to which the Minister referred is in the form of a document which will be available to noble Lords?

§ Lord Fraser of Carmyllie
My Lords, first, I very much regret that the noble Lord was not invited to the conference. However, many Members of Parliament, including Members of the Opposition Benches, were present. I am delighted that they took part not only in the conference but also in a number of other events which followed the major event on the Monday. Yes, there will be a summary report, drawing together the main themes of the opening day of the conference. The action plan that we are to draw up with Canning House, LATAG and the CBI will certainly be available to those noble Lords who wish to see it.

§ The Earl of Limerick
My Lords, my noble and learned friend referred to the need for a follow-up with additional conferences in Latin America as well 1495 as here. He will be aware that Canning House has a conference planned in Sao Paulo on 14th May. Does he agree that the effects of ministerial visits, in which there has been a most welcome increase, are greatest when targeted, with accompanying businessmen, towards specific sectors such as health, education or the environment? Will Her Majesty's Government ensure that our Latin American posts are adequately resourced to deal with what we may anticipate to be increased demand?

§ Lord Fraser of Carmyllie
My Lords, I have no doubt that my noble friend is right and that the time has now come to ensure not only that trade missions are focused but that specific interests are represented on them. In many respects, the time for large unfocused efforts has probably gone. Given my noble friend's long involvement with Canning House and Latin American affairs, I hope that he will be encouraged to hear that in the coming year it is anticipated that there will be something like 46 trade missions to Latin American countries, which is an increase on the present year. The trade missions will, generally speaking, take the form which my noble friend would consider desirable—that is, they will have a clear focus.

§ Lord Avebury
My Lords, are there any new developments to report, or were any reported at the conference, about the legal regime for mineral development in the sea-bed between the Falkland Islands and Argentina? What opportunities are there for business to become involved in that sector?

§ Lord Fraser of Carmyllie
My Lords, there was no specific focus. However, the noble Lord will be aware that a number of licences have been granted in Falkland Island waters. So far as I am aware, no exploration has yet been undertaken, but the last indication I have is that it is expected that there will be exploration earlier than was originally anticipated.

§ Viscount Montgomery of Alamein
My Lords, in view of the greatly increased number of visits which will take place during the course of the year, and the increased activity resulting from the conference, can my noble and learned friend reassure me that there are sufficient posts, and that there will be no erosion of the number of people working in embassies in Latin America, especially having regard to the views recently published by the Trade and Industry Select Committee of the other place?

§ Lord Fraser of Carmyllie
My Lords, I have no doubt that the FCO will always argue its corner and say that additional posts should be provided. In the DTI, we are confident that sufficient resources will be given to expanding the market in Latin America, underlining its key importance. As I have said, the clearest and simplest indicator of that is the fact that more trade missions are planned for Latin America next year than has been the case in the past.