Ministerial Visit (Hansard, 17 November 1986)

§ Mr. Archie Hamilton

My noble Friend, the Minister of State for Defence Procurement, visited Japan and South Korea from 13 to 20 October to discuss the scope for defence sales and collaboration. He was accompanied to Japan by a group of senior business men from British aerospace companies some of whom also continued with him to South Korea. In Japan he met Ministers and officials from the Japanese Defence Agency and the Ministry of International Trade and Industry and also had a number of meetings with Japanese industrial leaders and senior political figures. Discussions covered a range of possible areas of co-operation including, in particular, Japan's future requirement for a fighter aircraft.

In South Korea, my noble Friend also had a number of meetings with Ministers and officials together with senior representatives from several major industrial companies. As in Japan, he was most warmly received and discussed a number of projects of current mutual interest. He was able to press the case for British companies and to assure his hosts of Her Majesty's Government's full support for their efforts.

Japan and South Korea are not markets where British Aerospace companies have been especially successful in the past, but the visit served to underline the new determination now being shown by those companies.