§ Mr. AmosTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans his Department has to promote exports from the north-east to eastern European countries.
§ Mr. RedwoodMy Department is encouraging business men to look hard at the new commercial opportunities in46W eastern Europe. DTI Ministers are playing their part both by receiving incoming delegations and by leading business missions themselves. At the end of last year the Minister for Trade and I led business teams to the USSR and Hungary respectively. In the course of the next two months the Secretary of State and I will be taking business men to the USSR, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Romania while the Minister for Trade will be visiting British stands at the Leipzig fair in the GDR.
My Department is also encouraging British business to take full advantage of the several United Kingdom, EC and multilateral assistance schemes becoming available to help explore the new opportunities for direct investment, joint ventures, and other forms of industrial cooperation. Potential exporters from the north-east can take advantage of the advice from my Department's export service staff in the regional office in Newcastle.