§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealh Affairs (1) if he will list the British firms which have been taken over by the State in Zambia during the past five years and the value of sequestrated properties; and whether full and fair compensation has been paid for the assets thus acquired;
(2) if he will list firms which have been scheduled by Zambia for take-over and state the value of British assets remaining in the economy.
§ Lord BalnielA number of British companies with interests in Zambia have been affected by legislation passed since 1968 by the Zambian Parliament and of general application to introduce over a number of years State participation in the private sector of the economy. In most cases the Zambian Government have negotiated direct with the British owners concerned and satisfactory arrangements for the payment of compensation have been made without any request for intervention by Her Majesy's Government. Since in general it has not been necessary for Her Majesty's Government to become directly involved in negotiations between British firms and the Zambian Government, no complete list of past or planned future expropriations is available. So far as is known no British property has been sequestrated.
The total present value of British investment in Zambia is estimated at about £32 million, excluding oil, banking and insurance.