§ Mr. BorrowTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment she has made of(a) the contribution of the UK aerospace industry to the UK economy and (b) the role played in the past 10 years of the biennial Farnborough Airshow in securing business for the industry. [51194]
§ Mr. BattleAerospace is one of the most important high technology manufacturing sectors of the UK economy. It had a turnover of £15 billion last year (of which 75% is exported). This constitutes around 8% of the total turnover of the UK's engineering sector. The industry makes a positive contribution to the UK balance of trade of over £3 billion and, in 1997, it employed around 120,000 people.
Over the last ten years the UK industry's turnover has grown from £9.5 billion to the current £15 billion. Some 450 UK companies have exhibited at Farnborough over this period and, at the last show, some £1.8 billion of UK business was announced by the industry, which sees the show as an important competitive advantage for this sector of UK industry. The biennial Farnborough Airshow, which is organised by the Society of British Aerospace Companies, is the world's premier airshow and provides the industry with a vital shop window to display its products to customers around the world. The UK base which the Farnborough Airshow provides is an important competitive advantage for this sector of UK industry.