§ Mr. Peter AtkinsonTo ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what future plans his Department has to promote the north-east abroad to foreign investors; and if he will make a statement;
714W(2) what role his Department plays abroad to make the north-east an attractive proposition for investment by foreign businesses.
§ Mr. Sainsbury[holding answer 11 January 1993]: The Department of Trade and Industry through its Invest in Britain Bureau—IBB—promotes all United Kingdom regions to potential overseas inward investors. Overseas, this national promotional activity is carried out at IBB's direction by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The IBB directly funds the overseas inward investment activities of the English regional development organisations, who each have responsibility for promoting their own particular region. In the north-east this is the Northern Development Company. The NDC has offices in 10 countries, solely to promote the north to potential investors. In addition, the DTI's English unit manages offices in Taiwan and Korea which promote all the English regions to potential investors. These arrangements work well and have attracted many inward investors to the north-east.