Adrian Bailey
Main Page: Adrian Bailey (Labour (Co-op) - West Bromwich West)Department Debates - View all Adrian Bailey's debates with the Department for Education
(10 years, 8 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Michael Fallon
My hon. Friend will be aware, because I know he takes a strong interest in this area, of the reforms to UKTI, which is now working closely with British businesses. This week, I attended the world’s leading trade and industrial technology fair in Hanover and saw UKTI working with the Birmingham chamber of commerce to provide support for 40 UK companies. It is estimated that from that fair alone some £5 million-worth of orders are in the pipeline.
Mr Adrian Bailey (West Bromwich West) (Lab/Co-op)
In February, UK exports actually fell. Given the fact that last year only a fifth of the total amount of money available for financing exports was actually used, what more can the Minister do to increase the uptake of UK export finance in order to boost our exports?
Michael Fallon
The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. There are schemes to assist companies with their export finance, but only large companies have taken advantage of them in the past. We need to do more to market those schemes. I do not think it is fair to take one month’s particular trade figures. We are increasing our trade, particularly with the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China.