§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what was the total number and value of cars exported to Japan in each of the past five years listed by make; and how the British performance compares with that of the Federal Republic of Germany.
§ Sir G. HoweExports to Japan in total are shown below. The information is not available by make.
Japanese private direct investment in the United Kingdom, other than oil, banking and insurance, which at the end of 1968 amounted to £1.7 million and by the end of 1971 was probably about £14 million. I regret that the information requested in the second part of the Question is not available.
§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is his policy towards the investment of Japanese capital in North Sea developments.
§ Mr. Tom BoardmanNo Japanese companies have so far applied for licence rights on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf. Should any do so in the future I would treat the application on its merits.
§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many British companies have (a) 25 per cent. and under, (b) 50 per cent. and under and (c) 100 per cent. interest in Japanese companies and (d) loan stock or bond holdings in Japanese companies without an equity holding.
§ Sir G. HoweThe only information I have is for the end of 1968, and relates 13W to the book value of British direct investments in Japan; it does not cover oil, banking or insurance, British companies whose overseas investments throughout the world amount to less than £500,000, or investments in loan stock or bond holdings. The numbers of Japanese companies in which British direct investments were recorded were:
Extent of interest Number Branches 100 per cent. 5 Subsidiaries Usually 51–100 per cent 31 Trade investments 1–50 per cent. 6
§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will give a breakdown of British invisible trade with Japan for the latest available year.
§ Sir G. HoweThe Bank of Japan has published the following estimate of United Kingdom/Japanese transactions on services account in 1971 (in U.S. $millions):
JAPANESE CURRENT BALANCE OF PAYMENTS IN 1971 SERVICES TRANSACTIONS WITH THE UNITED KINGDOM $million Credits (To Japan) Debits (To Japan) Net Balance (To Japan) Transportation 164 424 -260 Insurance 143 172 -29 Travel 5 29 -24 Investment Income 35 143 -108 Government Services 0 2 -2 Others 40 109 -69 Total 387 879 -492
§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the Government will sponsor a delegation to Japan, to interest Japanese capital in industrial projects in the United Kingdom, comparable to that recently sponsored by the United States Government in Tokyo for the investment of Japanese private funds in further projects in the United States of America.
§ Mr. ChatawayMy Department plans to take part in a seminar in September being organised by the Japan Industrial Location Centre. In addition, I hope to visit Japan later in the year.