Supplementary memorandum submitted by
British Trade International
Question 12
The cost of developing the Trade Partners UK
brand, in response to a recommendation of the Wilson review of
export promotion, was £250,000. This figure includes consultancy
costs and all externally conducted research, although where possible
research was undertaken internally.
Question 20
Trade Partners UK works towards the following
objectives:
— To provide firms with high-quality,
timely and accessible information to help them export and invest
overseas.
— To help new, inexperienced and occasional
exporters develop their potential export capability and, as a
result, their competitiveness.
— To help firms experienced in exporting
and investing abroad to successfully exploit trade and investment
opportunities overseas.
— To provide more focused help in those
markets and sectors, identified together with private sector experts,
as having particularly strong potential for British business.
— To create a cohesive operation, involving
other Government Departments, responsive to exporters and outward
investors, providing co-ordinated, cost-effective services to
a consistent standard.
— To encourage all trade development
staff to achieve high standards of professionalism in serving
British firms.
These objectives are now being translated into
a set of key targets for the coming year. These targets will be
made available to the Committees as soon as they are finalised.
In addition we note the Committees' requirement to see information
on outputs in due course.
Questions 45-48
The Committees asked about any difference in
cost between filling an overseas post with a Diplomatic Service
(DS) or DTI officer.
All costs are the same except in the payment
of Diplomatic Service Compensation Allowance. This allowance is
paid in full to DS officers to compensate them for the long term
mobility requirement of their career. Home Civil Servants do not
have this requirement and receive 50 per cent of the allowance
on an overseas posting.
The difference, over a three or four year posting,
ranges from several hundred to about two thousand pounds depending
on the grade and marital status of the officer.
Questions 79-81
Turkey was designated a target market in June
1998. There were then seven commercial staff in Ankara and eight
in Istanbul. As recorded in the minutes of evidence there are
now eight in Ankara and 12 in Istanbul. Staffing levels in Izmir
are unchanged.
Our commercial posts in Turkey have been asked
to obtain the information the Committees require on:
— number and location of EU partners'
missions in Turkey, and
— number of staff with commercial function
at these posts.
Our commercial posts have not yet been able
to provide this information and point out that our EU partners
may treat staff numbers as commercially sensitive. Our posts will
forward any available information as soon as possible and this
will be sent to the Committees as a further supplementary note.
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