Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to promote economic development in developing countries.
Answered by Priti Patel
The way to end poverty and aid dependency is through inclusive economic growth, jobs, investment and trade. I recently launched DFID’s Economic Development Strategy which sets out my Department’s commitment to this agenda and the steps we are taking to deliver our priorities. Stronger economic development will enable the poorest countries to stand on their own two feet and is firmly in the UK’s national interest.
Asked by: Chris Green (Conservative - Bolton West)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to promote economic development in developing countries.
Answered by Priti Patel
The way to end poverty and aid dependency is through inclusive economic growth, jobs, investment and trade. I recently launched DFID’s Economic Development Strategy which sets out my Department’s commitment to this agenda and the steps we are taking to deliver our priorities. Stronger economic development will enable the poorest countries to stand on their own two feet and is firmly in the UK’s national interest.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps the Government plans to take to ensure that trade deals which he negotiates after the UK leaves the EU are equitable to and provide support for poorer and developing countries.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for International Trade is working closely with the Department for International Development, on the UK’s future trade policy with developing countries. We remain committed to ensuring developing countries can reduce poverty through trading opportunities, recognising the need for a smooth transition which minimises disruption to trading relationships.
We are encouraging wealth creation, economic growth and enterprise, all of which enable the poorest to lift themselves out of poverty.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will take steps to ensure that her Department does not link trade deals to aid projects; and what her policy is on her Department's use of aid to encourage trade deals.
Answered by Rory Stewart
We champion economic development, which is the only way to lift huge numbers of people in poor countries out of poverty. Trade is an important part of economic development. Our economic development work will include support for countries to take advantage of trading opportunities and will not be tied.
Asked by: Graham P Jones (Labour - Hyndburn)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what account his Department plans to take of alleged human rights abuses in Bangladesh in advising on any future trade deal with that country; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of imposing sanctions on Bangladesh in order to improve that country's respect for political and other rights.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the member for Maidenhead (Mrs May) has established the Department for International Trade to promote British trade across the world and ensure the United Kingdom takes advantage of the huge opportunities open to us. The Government is currently reviewing its trade policy. We will engage fully with a broad range of stakeholders, including both governments and business over the coming weeks and months, taking a large number of political and economic factors into consideration.
We are concerned about protection of human rights in Bangladesh, but believe that engagement, not sanctions, is the correct course of action. Sanctions would isolate Bangladesh at a time when it is, like so many, facing the global threat of terrorism. Trade sanctions would have a damaging effect on Bangladesh’s development and on efforts to bring people out of poverty.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assistance and support her Department is providing to food sovereignty movements in developing countries; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Grant Shapps - Secretary of State for Defence
DFID supports strengthening household food security through improving agricultural productivity and improved incomes from agricultural production, building resilience against climate change and linking smallholder farmers to markets and supply chains. We help with a context-specific range of programmes, which all contribute to the inclusive and more sustainable economic growth that will lift poor people out of poverty.
The UK Government believes that a key element in strengthening food security is to encourage diverse sources of supply. We will not support approaches that undermine open markets and free trade, which allows consumer choice and options for a healthier diet, and so does not specifically support food sovereignty movements in developing countries.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the potential humanitarian effect of creating a secure sea route for EU trade with Gaza between Cyprus and Gaza port.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
Allowing exports and lifting movement and access restrictions would have a transformative effect on Gaza’s economy, thereby reducing the humanitarian consequences of this political crisis by stimulating the economy and helping get people out of poverty. We have consistently called on the Government of Israel to improve movement and access into and out of Gaza, and will continue to do so.
Asked by: Ian Davidson (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow South West)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he has taken to encourage retailers to stock more Fairtrade products and adopt Fairtrade principles.
Answered by Jo Swinson
The power of Fairtrade, championed by some of Britain's best brands, is undeniable. While it remains a commercial decision on whether or not to stock Fairtrade products and adopt Fairtrade Principles, sales of Fairtrade products in the UK rose by 14% in 2013/14 to £1.78bn.
Policy on Fairtrade products rests with the Department for International Development who have invested £18 million over six years in Fairtrade in order to help open up new markets in harder to reach places and also to break down trade barriers faced by women.
For our part, we are working with the British Retail Consortium to develop guidance which sets out how retailers can apply appropriate due diligence and reporting in respect of their supply chains to ensure that consideration is given to the manner in which goods are brought to market.
Enabling the world's poorest people to get a fair price for what they produce helps end poverty and also creates tomorrow's new markets for us to trade with.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the World Wide Fund for Nature <i>Living Planet Report 2014</i>; what proposals they have to halt the destruction of species; and what they consider to be implications of the findings of that report for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
Answered by Lord De Mauley
The Government considers the Living Planet Report an interesting contribution to increasing our understanding of the scale of the challenge facing species internationally but has made no formal assessment of its findings.
Internationally, we frame our work on biodiversity under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and its Aichi Biodiversity Targets. A comprehensive assessment, the Fourth Global Biodiversity Outlook, was published at the recent 12th Conference of the Parties to the CBD. This reported significant progress towards meeting some components of the majority of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets. However, in most cases, additional action will be required to meet the targets by 2020. The Parties agreed to take comprehensive and urgent measures to ensure the full implementation of the Strategic Plan, including through the development and implementation of their national biodiversity strategies and action plans.
The Government helps achieve these global targets internationally through elements of Overseas Development Aid (particularly forest protection through the International Climate Fund and contributions to the Global Environment Facility) and through direct and financial support for various international agreements including the CBD, the Convention on Migratory Species and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The Darwin Initiative provides up to £6 million bi-lateral funding annually for developing countries to help meet their obligations under these international agreements, improve biodiversity and natural environment management and reduce poverty; and up to £2 million annually from the Darwin Plus fund for projects in the UK’s Overseas Territories.
The UK Government is also taking a leading role in global efforts to end the illegal wildlife trade. In December 2013, we announced a £10 million funding package to support efforts in developing countries to tackle the illegal trade in wildlife products. In February 2014 we hosted a high-level international conference for leaders from over 40 nations. This resulted in the London Conference Declaration, containing 25 commitments to action on enforcement and criminal justice, demand reduction and sustainable livelihoods.
Domestically, the Government set out its response to the CBD’s Strategic Plan in “Biodiversity 2020: A strategy for England’s wildlife and ecosystem services”, which aims to halt overall biodiversity loss by 2020. The strategy includes a commitment to achieve an overall improvement in the status of our wildlife and to prevent further human-induced extinctions of known threatened species.
It will be for Parties to CITES to decide how that Convention should respond to the Living Planet Report and other information about the status of species, which may be reflected in future proposals to list endangered species under the Convention.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what economic links there are with Burma; and what the value of (a) exports to and (b) imports from Burma was in the last year for which figures are available.
Answered by Lord Swire
Building a sustainable economy in Burma, including increased responsible international investment, is key to economic growth, alleviating poverty, improving livelihoods and improving stability. As set out in the ‘UK Activities in Burma' document published on 8 April alongside a Written Ministerial Statement, the Government is working to encourage and support Burma to remove barriers to becoming a stable, prosperous and democratic country with a sustainable economy that benefits all its people and created a positive climate for domestic, international and UK trade and investment.
We are active in several areas including:
- establishing a UK Trade and Investment office in Burma to provide practical support to British companies;
- establishing a UK Financial Services Task Force to support the development of sound financial structures and products;
- funding two specialist economists from the International Growth Centre to support the Myanmar Development Resource Institute in providing high quality advice to government;
- providing £1.1m to support Burma's application to the Extractives Industries Transparency Initiative which will help improve the transparency and accountability of the revenues from Burma's natural resources.
- supporting work to strengthen Burma's accountancy profession, to tackle financial crime and to increase local community involvement in investment decisions.
UK exports of goods to Burma in 2013 were worth £44m (a 243% year on year increase) and imports from Burma were worth £65m (a 44% year on year increase). The top UK exports were transport equipment and road vehicles whilst the top imports were clothing.
In 2012, the last year for which total goods and services figures are available, UK exports of goods and services to Burma were worth £20.8m and imports from Burma were worth £46m.