§ Mr. Gwnfor Evansasked the Secretary of State for Industry what proportion of the £400 million invested by the State in microelectronics is invested in Wales ; and what proportion of the further £100 million announced by the Prime Minister to encourage the industrial use of microelectronics is likely to be invested in Wales.
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§ Mr. Les Huckfield:The measures to encourage the application of microelectronics, announced by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 6th December, comprised measures costing in the region of £100 million. Of this sum £40 million was for the extension of the existing £15 million microprocessor applications project; the remainder represents the cost of promoting training for microelectronic applications and, subject to further study, of various relevant improvements in educational provision. In addition to these measures, the Government have previously established the microelectronics industry support programme—£70 million—to encourage the production of microelectronic components and equipment and assistance will continue to be given through other existing schemes, for example, RDGs. The NEB, with Government approval, is to invest some £50 million in INMOS which will manufacture "chips". This whole programme should
£'000 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 Financial aid Government grants 1,580.7 2,465.1 1,265.2 668.9 3,061.4 Government loans 140.1 27.5 112.7 40.0 Cr. 40.0 Total 1,720.8 2,492.6 1,377.9 708.9 3,021.4 Technical Co-operation 539.2 676.3 899.7 1,040.1 1,254.0 of which: United Kingdom training 141.7 125.9 165.8 244.0 224.6 Wholly financed experts 166.1 226.1 251.7 293.2 329.3 Research 1.9 28.0 89.1 53.1 6.5 Consultancies 54.9 24.2 44.7 83.9 55.8 Equipment 171.1 266.9 346.6 355.9 625.0 Surveys — 1.7 — — — Advisers 0.3 1.3 — 1.0 0.9 Volunteers — — — 4.1 6.9 Other 3.2 2.2 1.9 4.9 5.1 Total Public Expenditure 2,260.0 3,168.9 2,277.6 1,749.0 4,275.5 No debt relief arrangements have been entered into, but it was announced on 31st July 1978 that Nepal would be one of the countries benefiting from the measures to remove the burden of past aid loans known as Retrospective Terms Adjustment (RTA). The amount of aid debt outstanding from Nepal was approximately £2.1 million on 31st March 1978.
124Wenable British industry to compete more effectively with its overseas competitors. These funds are intended to aid industry throughout the country and it is not possible to predict what proportion of the funds will go to Wales; that will be influenced by the response of industry in Wales.