Poland

HC Deb 08 May 1990 vol 172 cc15-6W

Mr. Pawsey

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Rugby and Kenilworth of 26 April,Official Report, column 282, what plans exist to increase the £2.3 million so far provided for Poland under the know-how fund.

Mrs. Chalker

We expect that expenditure under the know-how fund for Poland in 1990–91 will be considerably higher than the £2.3 million spent in 1989–90. It is too soon to predict an exact figure.

Mr. Pawsey

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Rugby and Kenilworth of 26 April,Official Report, column 282, what plans exist to increase the size of the know-how fund.

Mrs. Chalker

Much of the £50 million know-how fund for Poland has yet to be committed to specific projects, and

United Kingdom bilateral aid 1984–1988 at current prices
£ Thousands
		1984	1985	1986	1987	1988
	Burma	821	983	2,945	4,717	2,222
	China	561	1,201	2,190	4,011	28,383
	India	146,537	106,466	143,481	78,464	101,045
	Indonesia	28,292	33,649	8,898	12,223	17,365
	Jordan	6,105	2,332	5,641	4,809	4,091
	Malaysia	4,992	7,454	55,494	9,779	10,057
	Philippines	3,803	1,840	205	262	1,042
	Sri Lanka	26,203	17,316	15,981	18,690	21,718
	Thailand	20,036	7,437	4,215	5,358	23,244
	Yemen Arab Republic	3,103	3,104	3,775	5,168	6,603

United Kingdom bilateral aid 1984–1988 at constant 1988 prices
£ Thousand
	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988
Burma	1,003	1,137	3,291	5,029	2,222
China	686	1,390	2,447	4,276	28,383
India	179,095	123,180	160,344	83,657	101,045
Indonesia	34,578	38,932	9,944	13,032	17,365
Jordan	7,461	2,698	6,304	5,127	4,091
Malaysia	6,101	8,624	62,016	10,426	10,057
Philippines	4,648	2,129	229	279	1,042
Sri Lanka	32,025	20,034	17,859	19,927	21,718
Thailand	24,488	8,605	4,710	5,713	23,244
Yemen Arab Republic	3,792	3,591	4,219	5,510	6,603

Percentage of aid and trade provision to gross bilateral aid 1984–1988
Per cent.
	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988
Burma	30.7	31.9	69.0	79.4	29.1
China	—	—	—	27.1	80.8
India	16.7	8.3	6.0	0.1	9.4
Indonesia	20.7	58.6	0.6	8.5	6.6

there are no plans to increase the size of the overall fund. As already announced, know-how funds have been extended to Hungary, East Germany and Czechoslovakia.

Mr. Pawsey

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Rugby and Kenilworth of 26 April,Official Report, columns 282–83, what is his estimate of the number of people who have benefited from the specific training provided for potential local joint venture partners with Poland.

Mrs. Chalker

The initiative under the know-how fund relating to the training of potential local joint venture partners has been introduced only recently and detailed arrangements are being worked out. A number of companies have registered their interest in the initiative in respect of Poland and we are looking carefully at their proposals.