§ Mr. Wallerasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement about the results of the 12th session of the inter-governmental commission on scientific, technological, trade and economic co-operation in Moscow.
§ Mr. ChannonI led the United Kingdom delegation to this session of the joint commission which took place in Moscow from 21–23 May. Also among the United Kingdom delegation were senior representatives of Babcock International, Barclays Bank, Courtaulds, Davy and John Brown. The Soviet delegation was led by Mr. N. S. Patolichev, Minister of Foreign Trade. During my visit to Moscow I had separate meetings with two Deputy Prime Ministers and a number of Soviet Ministers.
The joint commission was, I believe, a very useful and worthwhile event. At the formal sessions of the Commission we had a series of open and frank discussions on the current state of and future prospects for trade, economic, industrial, scientific and technological cooperation between the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union. We also had a useful exchange of views on the obstacles impeding the development of trade and economic relations between the two countries and ways of eliminating them. Both the joint commission and my meetings with Soviet Ministers took place in a friendly and constructive atmosphere.
Although United Kingdom exports to the USSR grew by 26 per cent. in 1983 to £448 million, with increased sales of textile fibres, chemicals, power generating and general industrial machinery, this increase only marked a return to the level of exports achieved in 1980 and the volume of bilateral trade remains low compared with that between the Soviet Union and other Western countries. The joint commission agreed that the full potential for cooperation between the United Kingdom and the USSR has not yet been realised and that there are good opportunities for increased trade and industrial co-operation in a number of sectors. The prospects were felt to be particularly promising in the fields of energy, agriculture, food processing and packaging, chemicals and synthetic fibres, scientific instruments, biotechnology and synthetic fuels. Although we were told that it was too early to discuss details of the next Soviet five-year plan (1986–90), the business men in the delegation were able to describe a number of new developments which we hope will be reflected in the plan. One important message which came 538W across clearly was that priority will be attached to modernising existing plants and increasing their capacity, as against building new ones.
On the science and technology side, the joint commission agreed that the 10-year co-operation programme, which expires in 1985, should be extended for another five years. It was also agreed that the programme itself should be reviewed and updated to take account of recent developments.
One welcome result from the joint commission was the undertaking we received from the Soviet side that two-way direct dialling international telephone links will be restored for resident business men by the end of 1984 and that shopping facilities for them will also be improved.
The next meeting of the joint commission will take place in 1985 in the United Kingdom.