§ Mr. WyattTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the value of business(a) directly and (b) indirectly won by the commercial departments of (i) UK embassies and consulates in EU member states and (ii) the UK embassy and consulates in the USA in each of the last five years. [105286]
§ Mr. BattleThe most recent independent report on commercial services provided by British diplomatic posts overseas was produced by the National Audit Office (NAO) in 1996. This report, which covered four countries in south east Asia, noted that the seven services which the NAO examined helped generate an estimated £345 million of additional business for British companies in 1994, at a cost of £4.5 million.
328WBritish Trade International was set up in 1999 to combine in one organisation the trade promotion work of the FCO and the DTI. British Trade International has identified 15 target markets, including Western Europe and the USA. Although we do not carry out quantitative assessments of the value of business won, we commission research from an independent research company, which shows an average 90 per cent. overall satisfaction rate in 1998 among customers of the commercial services provided by overseas posts worldwide.
§ Mr. WyattTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 11 January 2000,Official Report, column 132W, on embassy costs, for what reasons the embassies in Rome and Bonn spend 9 per cent. and 2 per cent. respectively, on commercial work. [105255]
§ Mr. HainCommercial work in both Italy and Germany is concentrated in their commercial centres, such as Milan and Dusseldorf, rather than their capital cities.
Rome accounts for 23 per cent. of commercial work carried out in Italy and Bonn 3 per cent. in Germany.