§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the value of contracts won by United Kingdom companies in competition for contracts financed through multilateral aid and how many jobs are created or secured; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Lennox-Boyd[holding answer 8 February 1993]: Aggregate figures for the value of contracts awarded through multilateral aid agencies, including multilateral development banks, are difficult to estimate because not all agencies compile statistics on contracts awarded by nationality; and for those which do, there are significant differences in the way data are reported. Because of these limitations, it is not possible to estimate the total value of business secured by United Kingdom firms through multilateral aid agencies. As I told the hon. Member on 26 January, at column 636, our best estimate is that for every £1 we contribute to multilateral agencies, they spend on average £1.40 on British goods and services. This is based on incomplete data averaged over several years. No estimate has been made of the employment impact of such business.