§ Mr. HarveyTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the revisions to his Department's objectives for export promotion since those listed in table 1.3 of "Overseas Trade Service: Assistance to Exporters", a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, HC 293; and if he will make a statement. [26703]
§ Mr. HanleyOur objectives and achievements, including for trade and investment promotion, are contained in the departmental report for 1996, a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House.
The National Audit Office report (HC 293) on services to exporters provided by the FCO and DTI through their joint export promotion arm Overseas Trade Services shows that the FCO's overseas posts provide valuable assistance to existing and potential British exporters and investors overseas. The NAO concluded that the OTS services it examined in four south-east Asian countries had helped introduce around 1,000 British companies to 298W those markets over two years. These services, which cost around £4.5 million to provide, helped generate additional exports for British companies worth around £345 million: a gearing of almost 1:80.