§ 71. Sir P. Hannonasked the President of the Board of Trade the details of the organisation, now operative in Sweden, for the expansion of British export trade in that country; what special instructions have been issued to the Commercial Secretariat and the Consular Services in Sweden to assist in the promotion of the sale of British goods; and if a statement can be made available on the prospects of Anglo-Swedish trade.
§ Mr. BelcherThe official organisation in Sweden for promoting United Kingdom exports consists of the Commercial Counsellor to His Majesty's Embassy at Stockholm and a staff of twelve. The Commercial Counsellor works in close collaboration with the Consul-General at Gothenburg, in whose office a special section has been created to deal with commercial affairs. Commercial Diplomatic Officers in Sweden are fully aware of the special need to augment United Kingdom exports to that country.
The Supplementary Monetary Agreement just concluded contemplates that payments between the sterling area and Sweden in 1948 will balance at £47,000,000, of which over £41,000,000 should represent United Kingdom exports to Sweden. The latter figure compares with £21,000,000 in 1946 and £22,000,000 in the first nine months of this year. Restrictions on the import of many United Kingdom goods into Sweden have recently been eased, and discussions now proceeding with a Swedish delegation aim at extending exports to Sweden over as wide a range of United Kingdom manufactures as possible.