§ Mr. Michael Marshallasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what information he has on the amount of support from public funds provided to their electronic industries by the Governments of France, Western Germany and Japan, respectively, in the last three years and expected to be provided in the next three years.
§ Mr. ButcherA simple answer is not possible because of the wide variety of support mechanisms used in the countries listed.
As an illustration of the diverse nature of published information in. 1982, the French announced a FFr140 billion programme in electronics but its coverage and duration was very broadly defined. In Germany the Federal Ministry of Research and Technology's budget for 1983 was DM629 million. The Japanese Government are reported as intending to spend Y75 billion for research in semiconductors over the period 1982–89. At present exchange rates this expenditure is equivalent to about £12 billion, £165 million and £230 million respectively. But it is difficult to determine the scope and content of the programme and the figures are not directly comparable.