Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether UK businesses are eligible to apply for funding from the Investment Promotion Programme.
Answered by Graham Stuart
All suitable qualified UK businesses will be eligible to bid for the procurement of service delivery contracts of the Investment Promotion Programme (IPP); all commercial processes are in line with Government Commercial Operating standards.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether his Department (a) currently has or (b) has plans for Official Development Assistance-funded programmes other than the Investment Promotion Programme.
Answered by Conor Burns
DIT is currently building a portfolio of development programming to drive trade and investment between international business and developing country markets. DIT’s interventions are under design but will link to DIT’s unique competencies in trade and investment. DIT’s development projects will adhere to the word and spirit of the International Development Act and follow the priorities set out in the 2015 Aid Strategy, including maintaining the commitment to keep aid untied.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what analysis his Department conducted on the effectiveness of public private partnerships before it rolled out the Investment Promotion Programme.
Answered by Conor Burns
The Department for International Trade (DIT) carried out extensive research of the evidence on the effectiveness of Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) as part of the appraisal of the programme. This included evidence from the World Economic Forum, the World Bank and the International Financial Corporation (IFC) that showed that PPPs can produce effective development outcomes and offer value for money. DIT analysts will be producing internal analysis on all pillars of the programme which will be published as part of the Final Business Case.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what development outcomes his Department has set for the aid-funded Investment Promotion Programme.
Answered by Conor Burns
The Investment Promotion Programme (IPP) is intended to deliver the following outcomes in selected countries:
In the long term these outcomes are expected to increase incomes and improve living standards for local populations, including women.
The IPP is currently in design and inception phase, more details of anticipated outcomes will be published in the Final Business Case.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how much Official Development Assistance funding his Department is providing to (a) Nigeria, (b) South Africa, (c) Kenya, (d) Ethiopia, (e) Colombia, (f) Peru, (g) Indonesia and (h) Bangladesh; and (i) for what purpose and (ii) under which programme is that funding being provided.
Answered by Conor Burns
DIT has no active ODA funded programming in the countries listed. As part of the design of the Investment Promotion Programme (IPP), DIT plans to spend ODA in Nigeria, South Africa and Peru. These countries were selected as they scored highly on development needs and opportunities. To date, no ODA has been provided to these countries as the programme has recently started. Details on country spend from IPP will be published in line with DIT’s transparency commitment.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what criteria were used to select India, the Philippines, South Africa and Nigeria as the main target countries for his Department's Investment Promotion Programme.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department for International Trade developed an economic model to score and rank all aid eligible countries (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee list) on a range of economic, social and structural indicators from the World Bank, World Economic Forum and UN Council on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and other internationally-recognised sources. The selected countries scored highly on the need for economic development, investment opportunity and are priority countries for Official Development Assistance (ODA).
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what consultation his Department conducted to inform the design of the Investment Promotion Programme.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department for International Trade (DIT) consulted with the Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs), relevant departments of focal countries, British and other foreign businesses invested in focal countries, DIT, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Department for International Development and HM Trade Commissioners in posts in the focal countries, chambers of commerce, business councils, multilateral development banks operating in the focal countries, other donors funding investment and trade capacity building programmes, the Infrastructure and Projects Authority, HM Treasury, Cabinet Office, UK Export Finance and CDC (UK’s development finance institution) while designing the IPP. DIT is still refining the programme design and is currently developing a Full Business Case.