HC Deb 15 October 1990 vol 177 c751W
Mr. Mullin

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs is he will list those EEC countries which support British objections to diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the EEC.

Mr. Garel-Jones

Following agreement by the Vietnamese Government to accept back those Vietnamese who have not been accorded refugee status in other countries, we have informed our Community partners that we would welcome the renewal of formal diplomatic relations between the Community and Vietnam.

Mr. Mullin

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has about Vietnamese money blocked in British bank accounts; and what are the obstacles to its release.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

[holding answer 23 July 1990]: According to the Bank of England's Quarterly Bulletin of May 1990, at 29 December 1989 Vietnamese deposits with banks and other financial institutions in the United Kingdom stood at US$18 million. The Government have not imposed a freeze on Vietnamese assets in the United Kingdom.