§ Mr. LazarowiczTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry for how many trade delegations from Scotland to(a) the Czech Republic, (b) Poland, (c) Hungary, (d) Slovenia, (e) Estonia, (f) Lithuania, (g) Latvia and (h) Slovakia her Department provided support in (i) 2000 and (ii) 2001 to date. [13169]
§ Nigel GriffithsI am replying on the basis of information provided by Scottish Development International, a joint venture between the Scottish Executive and Scottish Enterprise.
556WTrade Partners UK services in Scotland are delivered by the Trade Division of Scottish Development International. It, along with other members of the export support network in Scotland, organises overseas trade missions.
In June 2000 there was one trade mission to Hungary and Slovenia led jointly by Export Partnership Forth Valley and Lanarkshire Export Partnership. In 2001 to date there have been two visits to Poland, one in April led by Export Partnership Forth Valley and a sector based mission in June concentrating on food and drink led jointly by Scottish Development International and the Seafood Industry Authority. A visit to Estonia took place in September supported by Renfrewshire and Inverclyde Exports followed by a further mission to Slovenia in October led by Lanarkshire Export Partnership.
In addition, a delegation of Scottish business people interested in developing links with the Czech Republic accompanied the Scottish Minister for Finance during his visit there this September when he formally launched the second twinning covenant for Preparation for Structural Funds.
Companies based in Scotland are also able to take part in any other UK supported trade missions.