§ Mr. Gryllsasked the Minister of Overseas Development whether she will undertake to consult the General Council of British Shipping before she allows British Shipbuilders to make gifts of merchant ships to foreign countries, using British aid money.
§ Mrs. HartThere is no question of British Shipbuilders making gifts of ships. The provision of ships under aid arrangements is a matter for agreement between the overseas Government concerned and Her Majesty's Government, who provide the aid finance to the purchaser. My Department would invariably consult the Department of Trade and the Department of Industry, who are aware of the interests of the relevant United Kingdom industries. I would not normally expect also to consult the General Council of British Shipping, though I have today had a general discussion with it, at my invitation.
§ Mr. Gryllsasked the Minister of Overseas Development whether her Department is in negotiation with the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, with a view to British Shipbuilders giving merchant vessels to Vietnam; if so, when these negotiations were started; and when she expects them to be concluded.
§ Mrs. HartNo, not at present. Late last year British Shipbuilders began negotiations with the Vietnamese authorities about the possible purchase of several new British-built cargo vessels. It is not yet possible to say when these negotiations will be concluded. The Government of Vietnam have been told that it will be appropriate to make a grant from the aid programme towards the purchase of these ships, within the context of the Aid-Trade Contingency Fund, of which my hon. Friend informed the House on 13th January 1978.—[Vol. 941, c.849–50.]