§ Ms WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress has been made towards negotiating an agreement on investment since the ending of negotiations on the Multilateral Agreement on Investment. [81616]
§ Mr. WilsonThe UK, and the EU as a whole, have called for investment to be on the agenda of a future round of negotiations in the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Decisions on the content of that agenda will be taken at the WTO ministerial meeting in Seattle later this year. In the meantime, the UK is participating in the analytical work of the WTO Trade and Investment Working Group and the parallel work in the UNCTAD Expert Meetings on International Investment Agreements.
§ Ms WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make it his policy to ensure that social, environmental and development issues are given high priority in future discussions on developing an international agreement on investment. [81617]
§ Mr. WilsonThe Government are committed to ensuring that, within any new framework for international investment, full account is taken of social, environmental and development concerns.