§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what talks have been undertaken with the chambers of commerce and related commercial interests on the training of business men in oriental and African languages.
§ Mr. RedwoodMy right hon. Friend and I believe it is important for business men to be able to communicate in the languages used by their customers. We have therefore encouraged business men to learn appropriate foreign languages, including oriental languages and those spoken in Africa. We would be happy to discuss the subject with representatives of chambers of commerce or other business organisations, if they wished to do so.
Also, my noble Friend the former Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Lord Young, announced on 2 March 1989, a Japanese language training initiative. Financial support from my Department and the private sector is currently being given to four universities with the aim of doubling the number of graduates who have Japanese language ability allied to a commercially relevant skill.
62WAn important initiative aimed at business men has been the establishment of the network of language-export (LX) centres, which have received pump-priming funding from the Department of Education and Science under the PICKUP programme. LX centres provide language courses tailormade to meet the needs of business men.