Mr. Colin Jacksonasked the President of the Board of Trade if, as part of the continuing study of measures to stimulate exports, which as he announced in the House on 1st February, 1965, will be carried out by the Government in consultation with the British National Exports Council and other organisations, a special study of the contribution which the provision of practical training for overseas nationals in British industry has now been made in order to promote the long-term growth of exports of capital goods; and what conclusions were reached.
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§ Mr. JayAn inquiry into the contribution which the training of overseas engineers under the C.B.I. Overseas Scholarships Scheme makes towards the promotion of United Kingdom exports of capital goods was carried out by my Department during 1963. As might be expected, it was concluded that, while such training was of long-term value on several grounds, it was impossible to quantify the effects in terms of identifiable increases in exports.
Mr. Colin Jacksonasked the President of the Board of Trade on how many occasions, and in what countries, requests have been received by his Department at trade fairs and during trade missions abroad for assistance in obtaining practical training for overseas nationals in British industry and commerce; and what action he has taken to meet the requests.
§ Mr. JayMy Department does not compile figures of requests of this kind. Whenever we are approached about training, we try to help wherever possible by referring the inquirer to an appropriate scheme. There is, of course, a limit at any given time to the number of training places available in British industry.