Asked by: Pat McFadden (Labour - Wolverhampton South East)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much funding her Department and its predecessor Department (a) budgeted for and (b) spent on advertising in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The Department buys advertising media through its media buying agency Omnicom Media Group UK Ltd. Advertising is used to promote investment and UK exports.
The Department’s general ledger records spend with Omnicom Media Group for the last three years for which figures are available as follows:
2020/21: £15,102,407.21
2021/22: £11,890,853.20
2022/23: £13,124,598.26
Advertising is part of the Department’s wider marketing strategy. Budgeting is carried out at the marketing category level, so no records are held on sums specifically budgeted for advertising.
These figures relate to the Department’s predecessor department, the Department for International Trade.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to the Answer of 10 July 2023 to Question 192710 on British International Investment: DP World, what the cost to the public purse was of payments made to (a) P&O Ferries and (b) DP World through (i) British International Investment and (ii) other spending by his Department in the period between 17 March 2022 and February 2024.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
British International Investment's (BII) partnership with DP World is supporting the modernising and expansion of three ports in Dakar, Sokhna and Berbera, which aims to increase access to vital goods for 35 million people and add $51 billion to total trade by 2035. Since the answer of 10 July 2023 to Question 192710, no further disbursements have been made by BII. BII has no relationship with P&O Ferries, its investment partnership is solely in certain ports with DP World in Africa. There has been no other payments / funding directly from the FCDO to P&O or DP World in the period between 17 March 2022 and February 2024.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps his Department has taken to encourage international companies to (a) invest and (b) base themselves in Northern Ireland in the last six months.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
International investment makes an important contribution towards Northern Ireland's prosperity.
The Northern Ireland Investment Summit, led by the Department for Business and Trade in partnership with the Northern Ireland Office and Invest NI, welcomed over 180 global investors to the region in September. The Summit showcased Northern Ireland’s innovation, sector strengths and opportunities for inward investment to a truly global audience.
We are already seeing new international investment in Northern Ireland’s key growth sectors as a result, along with established companies already based in Northern Ireland announcing that they will be expanding their operations in the region.
My Department continues to work closely with the Department for Business and Trade to maximise opportunities to encourage investment. I attended the Global Investment Summit that the UK hosted in November and met with many businesses interested in setting and scaling up in the UK. My clear message to them was that Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom has all of the right ingredients for economic success: exceptional talent, unique opportunities, a tradition of creativity and a healthy spirit of private sector entrepreneurship.
A key factor for international investment is of course business certainty. We thus welcome the restoration of devolved governance in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, for what reason the UK-African Investment Summit has been postponed.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK-African Investment Summit (UK-AIS), due to take place in April 2024, will now be postponed to a later date owing to scheduling issues in the international calendar. New summit dates will be announced in due course.
The UK government is committed to building on the success of the 2020 UK-Africa Investment Summit, which laid the foundations for new partnerships between the UK and African nations based on trade, investment, shared values and mutual interest. This includes by ensuring attendance from governments across the continent, as well as British and African businesses eager to harness the benefits of our trading relationship.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, for what reason the UK-Africa investment summit due to be held in April 2024 has been postponed.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK-African Investment Summit (UK-AIS), due to take place in April 2024, has been postponed to a later date owing to scheduling issues in the international calendar. New summit dates will be announced in due course.
The UK government is committed to building on the success of the 2020 UK-Africa Investment Summit, which laid the foundations for new partnerships between the UK and African nations based on trade, investment, shared values and mutual interest. This includes by ensuring attendance from governments across the continent, as well as British and African businesses eager to harness the benefits of our trading relationship.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has rearranged a date for the UK-Africa investment summit.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK-African Investment Summit (UK-AIS), due to take place in April 2024, has been postponed to a later date owing to scheduling issues in the international calendar. New summit dates will be announced in due course.
The UK government is committed to building on the success of the 2020 UK-Africa Investment Summit, which laid the foundations for new partnerships between the UK and African nations based on trade, investment, shared values and mutual interest. This includes by ensuring attendance from governments across the continent, as well as British and African businesses eager to harness the benefits of our trading relationship.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department has taken to help increase exports to Poland since 2022.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is committed to driving forward export growth and helping UK businesses export to markets across the globe including Poland. UK exports to Poland amounted to £10.5 billion in the 12 months to September 2023, an increase of 26.0% or £2.2 billion in current prices compared to the previous 12 months, making Poland the UK’s 21st largest export market.
UK businesses can access DBT’s wealth of export support, via Great.gov.uk. This comprises a digital self-serve offer and a wider network of support, including trade advisers, Export Champions, the Export Academy, International Markets network and UK Export Finance.
I visited Poland last month to promote UK exports and two-way investment flows.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Postponement of the UK-African Investment Summit, published on 31 January 2024, on what date he took the decision to postpone that summit; for what reason that summit was postponed; and on what date the Envoy for the UK-African Investment Summit 2024 was informed of that decision.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK-African Investment Summit (UK-AIS), due to take place in April 2024, has been postponed to a later date owing to scheduling issues in the international calendar. New summit dates will be announced in due course.
The UK-AIS Envoy was informed of the postponement of the Summit on 29 January shortly after the decision was taken, at which point he was already en route to Rwanda. During his visit, he informed the Rwandan government of the postponement and discussed our trade and investment partnership.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department plans to produce a trade and investment factsheet for trade with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
In accordance with the rest of the international community, with the sole exception of Turkey, the UK does not recognise the self-declared "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" as an independent state. UK trade statistics from the Office for National Statistics, which provide most of the headline information shown in the trade and investment factsheets, do not include figures identifying UK trade with the north of Cyprus . It is therefore not possible to produce a separate trade and investment factsheet.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to assess levels of risk in relation to the inclusion of Investor State Dispute Settlement clauses in trade deals.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Inclusion of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) in UK treaties is considered where it is in the UK's interests and where we agree with partners that it can play a useful role in supporting the bilateral investment relationship.
Where the UK negotiates ISDS, it is in line with modern international best practice. This ensures that the mechanism delivers fair outcomes of disputes, has independent arbitrators bound by high ethical standards, and that proceedings are transparent.
The UK has investment agreements containing ISDS provisions with around 90 trading partners. There has never been a successful ISDS claim against the UK.