§ Mr. AtkinsonTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what advice his Department provides for those seeking joint ventures in the Soviet Union with(a) state enterprises and (b) co-operatives.
§ Mr. Alan ClarkMy Department provides advice on the opportunities, the merits and the difficulties in establishing joint ventures in the Soviet Union. Generally, the advice is cautionary because of the Soviet's shortage of hard currency, and particularly so in the case of co-operatives, about which little is known individually. Nevertheless, we are very much in favour of companies doing all they can to find mutually advantageous deals and my right hon. and noble Friend Lord Young visited one successful British joint venture in operation near Kiev last week.
296WThe Soviet Union is mainly interested in establishing manufacturing joint ventures which have an export potential. Companies considering such joint ventures need to decide whether they wish to supply their export markets from a Soviet joint venture manufacturing base. Western companies have instead tended to prefer joint ventures which perform a service, for example, hotel construction and operation, and are therefore able to earn more easily the hard currency which is necessary to provide the western partner with a return on its investment.