§ Mr. HowardTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps she has taken to ensure that multilateral development projects make full use of the skills of United Kingdom business. [63543]
§ Clare ShortWe work with the Department of Trade and Industry's Development Business Team, which has specific responsibility to help UK business secure trade opportunities from multilateral development projects. DFID staff ensure that DTI has access to good information about the pipeline and strategies of the multilateral organisations.
British firms do well from multilateral procurement. For example, in fiscal year 1996, British firms secured contracts worth around £458 million from the World Bank, over twice the amount of the British government's annual contribution to the Bank in that year.