Trade and Investment

Debate between Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint and Lord Sentamu

Wednesday 9th February 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint]

I thank my noble friend Lord Risby for that intervention, because I agree completely. The role of British educational institutions as export earners in their own right and, importantly, as in some sense ambassadors for what Britain is around the world cannot be prized highly enough. All indications are that those who come into contact with the British educational experience end up taking with them a warm experience of Britain for the rest of their working lives. They are all the more keen therefore to engage with us, whether as investors or as traders later in life. I think that this is extremely important.

[The Archbishop of York]

My Lords, I too am very thankful for the White Paper. I am particularly grateful at how this Government are committed to assisting poor countries to take advantage of the opportunities presented by an open global trading system. I am also grateful that when the Secretary of State for International Development addressed the General Synod of the Church of England he reaffirmed what the Prime Minister has said; namely, that deficit reduction will not be achieved on the backs of the poor and that the 0.7 per cent will be retained to be given to those poor countries.

To have more joined-up thinking between that department and the Minister’s department, will the Minister ensure that they do not simply support poorer countries? As some people have said, it is one thing to give a poor man a fish, but it would be better to teach the poor man how to fish.

[Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint]

Trade is at the heart of what it takes to achieve successful economic and social development. Yes, the Government are committed to their plans to move towards the 0.7 per cent target for official development assistance. As my right honourable friend the Secretary of State said in the other place earlier today, we will commit to ensuring that our support for trade facilitation as part of our official development programmes remains at least at the current level. There is ample evidence that helping countries to improve border controls, regulatory environments and communications of all kinds has an enormous effect on trade, which in turn has an effect on people’s ability to earn their own livelihoods and find their way into the economic and social mainstream. So we are completely in agreement with the instinct that the most reverend Primate calls for.