Overseas Aid (Private Sector Contracts) Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for International Development
Richard Fuller
Main Page: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)Department Debates - View all Richard Fuller's debates with the Department for International Development
Overseas Aid (Private Sector Contracts)
Richard Fuller Excerpts(11 years, 2 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
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Justine Greening
The short answers to that question are yes and yes. As was pointed out in the Financial Times, aid and business constitute a crucial alliance, which we must try to bind more closely.
Richard Fuller (Bedford) (Con)
It is no surprise, is it, that the Labour party’s hostility to the private sector led Opposition Members to miss my right hon. Friend’s observation that ignoring that sector’s role in development was like trying to win a football match by leaving half one’s team on the bench? Can she add to her excellent list of initiatives an initiative to tap the entrepreneurial potential of Britain’s various diaspora communities by supporting development in their countries of origin?
Justine Greening
My hon. Friend will not be surprised to hear that this issue was raised after my speech in this morning’s question and answer session, and it is an incredibly powerful one. I believe that this country has more natural links to many of these developing economies than almost any other country in the world. We should be making the most of those and allowing our diasporas also to be part of helping the countries to which they have family links to develop.