§ 113. Mr. Andrew MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what visits he has made to eastern Europe in 1990 to discuss privatisation.
§ Mr. LilleyIn September, together with a party of British business men, I visited Berlin for talks with the West German Minister for the Economy and German business men. Among other things, we discussed investment in East Germany and in eastern Europe more generally, including opportunities arising from privatisation.
My predecessor visited Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary earlier this year and privatisation was one of the key issues discussed. Over the last year or so other DTI Ministers have led parties of business men to these countries as well as to the USSR, Romania and the GDR, and have addressed the question of privatisation on most occasions.