An influential Parliamentary Committee has launched an inquiry into support for exports and investment, building on an investigation last year into “Exports and the role of UKTI”.
Chairman of the International Trade Committee, Angus MacNeil, explained: “Before the Department for International Trade (DIT) was created, our colleagues on what was then the Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Committee did some excellent work scrutinising the role of UK Trade and Investment (UKTI).”
As UKTI has now been absorbed into the DIT, he went on, the Committee wants to find out how these new arrangements have affected its performance given that evidence was found of significant flaws in UKTI’s previous operating model.
Interested organisations or individuals are being invited to submit written evidence to the Committee by 5pm on 8 March 2017.
In particular, it will examine whether International Trade and Investment (ITI, formerly UKTI) and UK Export Finance (UKEF) have improved on their performance since the BIS Committee inquiry in 2016.
In the light of the Secretary of State’s admission that the £1 trillion export target will not be met, the Committee also wants to know if the Department’s export and investment targets are transparent, appropriate and achievable.
Evidence can be submitted through the inquiry page at www.parliament.uk.
“This is a time of great uncertainty for UK exporters of all sizes,” Mr MacNeil concluded. “It is vital that they get the right support.”
