§ Mr. Squireasked the Secretary of State for Trade how many Japanese-owned companies have production units in the United Kingdom; how many people are employed in these units; and how this compares with the numbers employed by Japanese enterprises in the other member States of the Community.
§ Mr. MacGregorI have been asked to reply.
The Invest in Britain Bureau knows of 21 companies which are Japanese-owned or in joint ventures with production facilities in the United Kingdom; between them they employ about 5,500 people. This excludes a further small number of Japanese companies who have announced firm plans to set up manufacturing plants in the United Kingdom. Similar information in respect of other member States of the European Community is not available from official sources. I understand, however, that in no other EC country is manufacturing employment in Japanese-owned establishments at anything approaching the level in the United Kingdom; total employment in Japanese-owned establishments in all other member States is unlikely to be greater than 7,000 to 8,000.