§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the dates and places to be visited by HMS Invincible and the other Royal Navy ships taking part in the promotional tour for British military equipment; what the cost of the tour is; and whether all costs are being paid by his Department.
§ Mr. AitkenHMS Invincible, escorted by HMS Newcastle, HMS Norfolk, HMS Boxer and two Royal Fleet Auxiliaries, is currently undertaking a six-month operational deployment to the far east, known as Orient '92. Although appropriate opportunities will be taken to help promote British defence exports, this is not the primary purpose of the deployment. Orient '92 is intended to demonstrate the continuing ability of the Royal Navy to operate in strength outside the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation area. It will provide the Royal Navy with valuable opportunities to practice operating as a task group in relatively unfamiliar environments, and to take part in bilateral and multilateral exercises with friendly navies. Ships from the task group have already visited Greece and Egypt. Further planned visits are as follows:
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Month Kenya June Seychelles June Mauritius June
Month Diego Garcia June, October Singapore July, August, September Malaysia July, August, September Hong Kong July, August, September Republic of Korea July, August Japan July, August Indonesia July, September Brunei August Thailand September Philippines September Australia September, October Oman October Bahrain October United Arab Emirates October Qatar October Egypt November The ships would, of course, have undertaken other tasks had they not been participating in Orient '92. It is therefore difficult to disaggregate the additional costs of the deployment. However, we expect them to be in the order of £4 million. All of these costs are being met by my Department.