HC Deb 09 February 1960 vol 617 c31W
Mr. Green

asked the President of the Board of Trade what new arrangements he proposes for making known in the United States of America the opportunities that the United Kingdom offers to American businessmen desiring to set up works in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Maudling

Hitherto the official sources of information available in the United States about opportunities for setting up manufacturing enterprises in the United Kingdom have been the Commercial Section of the Embassy and Consular posts throughout the United States. In addition some Regional Development Associations maintain a permanent representative in New York and bodies concerned with the industrial prosperity of particular parts of the country send across special missions from time to time to stimulate interest.

With the easing of restrictions on now investment of this kind during the past eighteen months, I have decided that the time is ripe to take additional steps to draw attention to what the United Kingdom has to offer in this field. An industrial development office is being established in New York for this purpose. A senior official of the Board of Trade will take charge of the office and is expected to arrive in New York on the 19th February. The Government of Northern Ireland has also decided to expand its activities in this field and will be appointing staff to the office for this purpose. The whole office will work as an integrated unit on behalf of the United Kingdom as a whole under the general direction of H.M. Consul-General in New York and of H.M. Minister Commercial in Washington.