HC Deb 13 December 1995 vol 268 cc664-5W
Mr. Sheerman

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to develop micro-enterprises in bilateral United Kingdom aid programmes. [5190]

Mr. Hanley

There are a growing number of micro-enterprise development activities within the current UK bilateral aid programme. These are principally in Bangladesh, India, Kenya, South Africa and also in Poland and Russia. There are also some in other Asian and African countries. We are now supporting well over 100 projects, with a total value of nearly £100 million in the small enterprise sector. We are looking, within available resources, to further develop the small and micro-enterprise component of our bilateral aid.