Examination of Witnesses (Questions 340
- 348)
TUESDAY 9 MAY 2006
MS SUE
CLARK AND
MR WALTER
GIBSON
Q340 Richard Burden: If you talk
about the World Bank's investment climate assessment and things
like that, does it reach something that initiatives like that
do not reach?
Mr Gibson: I am not too familiar
with that one, to be honest, so I am perhaps not the best person
to ask on that, but again if you would like an answer on that
I am sure we could supply you with that.
Q341 Chairman: In conclusion, you
are both describing business successes, things that you have done
to grow your own businesses, which is after all what you exist
to do. What is your feeling about the business climate for your
kind of companies in the poorer countries? Do you feel that it
is going forward on all fronts, or do you feel that there are
either certain countries or certain areas where you are either
static or going backwards? Is there anything that the donor countries
can do, positively or negatively? I am asking you both the same
question.
Mr Gibson: I am greatly encouraged
by what I see in the business at the moment. Some countries are
more advanced than others and have more confidence than others.
India is currently strong and is taking the lead in many areas,
but the learning that that is generating is being picked up in
other places and models that have been developed there have been
picked up, so one of the things that we can do is transfer knowledge
and best practice and see a new will in Africa to really try and
make that a success. China is a huge opportunity; we are in there
for the long term but it is starting to show positive signs.
Ms Clark: From our point of view,
yes, we are very encouraged by what we see. If you look at our
plans we see good growth coming from Africa, but we always have
to remember the exogenous factors, climate particularly. In Tanzania
when we look ahead to the next year, with the drought there we
are not as confident as we were. Clearly, economic stability is
important: Botswana was always the great growth model but over
the last year has suffered two significant devaluations, which
has an impact. What more can donors do? From our perspective it
clearly is about continuing to focus on the investment climate,
but maybe for big businesses it is how we can work in partnership
to deliver infrastructure. Some of the agricultural initiatives
that I talked about would be more successful if there were more
small-scale irrigation schemes; getting our product out into rural
areas still needs roads, infrastructure, bridges and things, so
there is more work needed to be done there.
Q342 Chairman: Do you make specific
representations to donors on those fronts?
Ms Clark: We are starting to,
yes. We are in discussions in different countries, we are in discussions
in Zambia, we are in discussions in Mozambique.
Q343 Joan Ruddock: Just a small point,
you mentioned drought. What advice do you get or seek on climate
change and what is the need to mitigate the known now or predictable
effects of climate change, particularly in Africa?
Ms Clark: To be honest, it is
something that we are just now starting to turn our attention
to. The latest figures I have seen would have Africa reducing
its rainfall by 30% and India increasing it by 30%, which would
have significant impacts on our business, so it is something we
are starting to turn our attention to. We really can see practical
effects of it in South Africa where barley is really suffering
now because of what appears to be climatic change.
Mr Gibson: I was passed a note
by a colleague to say that we manufacture in 18 African countries
and there is soap manufactured in almost all of those.
Joan Ruddock: Hopefully you can get into
the ones you have not yet got into.
Chairman: You are not shipping it out
of Port Sunlight then. Thank you very much.
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