Malaysia (Hansard, 24 February 1994)

§ Mr. Byers
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence with which countries Her Majesty's Government have entered into a memorandum of understanding concerning defence contracts; and when they were entered into.

§ Mr. Aitken
My Department, on behalf of Her Majesty's Government, has entered into many memoranda of understanding which are relevant to defence exports. Some of these relate to specific defence contracts, others are more general or cover co-operation over a range of equipments. Not all these MOUs result in any contractual activity. Our records show that such memoranda of understanding have been signed with the following countriesAlgeria, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Ecuador, Finland, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Republic of Ireland, Jordan, Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sweden, Thailand, USA.

§ Mr. Byers
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the total estimated cost in 1993–94 of running the Malaysian project office; and what are its total running costs since inception.

§ Mr. Aitken
I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave on 22 February 1994 at column134.

§ Mr. Byers
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list those companies about which the Government have given advice as to technical competence to the Malaysian Government since September 1988.

§ Mr. Aitken
My Department frequently advises on the technical competence of companies, but does not make firm recommendations. Advice is given on a Government to Government basis and is therefore confidential. The choice of contractor lies solely with the customer.

§ Mr. Byers
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which United Kingdom companies have been awarded defence contracts since the 1988 memorandum of understanding was signed with the Malaysian Government; and what was the subject matter of each contract.

§ Mr. Aitken
I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave on 21 February at columns69–70. Further details are a confidential matter between the supplier and the purchaser.