Letter from the Chairman of the BIS Select
Committee to Lord Davies of Abersoch, Minister for Trade and Investment
I have just returned from a visit to the Middle
East (Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia) with the Business and
Enterprise Committee. We had an excellent and illuminating visit,
which will provide vital background for our inquiry into exporting
out of recession. We are extremely grateful to the staff of the
FCO and UKTI in the embassies concerned for arranging such a rewarding
programme, and working so hard to support us while we were with
them.
I would not normally write about a substantive issue
in advance of the Committee report, but we received such a consistent
message from local business about the scale of the demands on
UKTI staff in Saudi Arabia that I feel I must draw it to your
attention. Without exception, everyone we met was unstinting in
their praise of the team, but they all expressed concern that
the demands on the post had increased hugely over the last year,
and staff were severely overstretched. I myself am aware that
Saudi Arabia has been included as part of the Fiscal Compass programme,
and that there has been a steep increase in the number of official
delegations which, although welcome, must require a significant
amount of work.
The recent BERR memorandum to our inquiry says:
"Targets are linked closely to resource
and, where resources are showing signs of stretch and we believe
there is scope to do more for customers, we move some additional
resource there."
I believe you should consider urgently the case
for allocating more resources to Saudi Arabia. Our recent visit
suggests that this should not be at the expense of the UAE, which
also, in my view, a most rewarding market.
I am copying this letter to Sir Andrew Cahn
and Sir William Patey.
30 April 2009
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