7 July 1982]
THE INDUSTRY AND TRADE COMMITTEE
13
[Continued
EXPORT PROMOTION FUNCTION OF DIPLOMATIC STAFF AT POSTS OVERSEAS
Note by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
1. Export promotion, including assistance to invisible exporters, is an important function of all our Embassies, High Commissions, and Consulates abroad. About one third of the total professional staff in such Posts overseas is engaged full-time on commercial work; around half these commercial officers are UK-based Diplomatic Service staff who spend between three and four years at one Post before moving on. The other half are locally recruited; they are selected for their local business knowledge and experience. The locally engaged and UK-based commercial officers work as a team combining local expertise, continuity and business contacts with close experience of the UK and its interests. These officers and their support staff are responsible to the Head of Mission, but they act as the overseas arm of the BOTB; and the BOTB is the main body to whom they report. They also act for other Government Departments such as ECGD. They help to provide the range of BOTB services.
2. At Posts, export promotion falls into two main categories:--
(a) responsive work, flowing mainly from requests for assistance from British firms but
sometimes from foreign importers;
(b) initiative work, undertaken by Posts to build up their knowledge of local market conditions; to establish and maintain useful contacts in business and government; to identify and overcome barriers to UK exports; to collect commercial and economic intelligence for reporting back to British companies. In broad terms, a commercial officer's main tasks are to:
(i) respond to enquiries from British exporters directly or through the BOTB
machinery about market opportunities and local conditions;
(ii) identify and report export opportunities to British firms, mainly through the
Export Intelligence Service;
(iii) assist in finding agents and business partners;
(iv) provide advice and support for trade missions;
(v) coordinate the participation of British firms in joint ventures at overseas trade
fairs;
(vi) assist visiting businessmen with advice and introductions;
(vii) provide the earliest possible notice of major projects, including tenders.
3. In certain countries considerable effort by commercial officers, aided by senior colleagues including the Head of Mission, is devoted to seeking out opportunities for British firms to bid for large projects. Where import policies are restrictive, they try to influence decisions in such a way as to improve opportunities for British companies. Posts have an important role to play in guiding businessmen through the local bureaucracy and introducing them to useful contacts. The BOTB and British exporters can expect that a commercial officer should:
(a) be able to provide up to date information on the market; this could include methods of distribution, buying patterns, mark-ups, and general knowledge of how business is done;
(b) be able, through his local contacts, to identify and provide introductions to key
people in the public and private sectors;
(c) provide general market information, which could include market reports on
products, services and industries;
(d) know about the opportunities that may exist for the products or services that the
British exporter wants to sell;
(e) know where information can be found relating to local tariffs and regulations,
statistics and other data:
(f) be informed about projects and tenders;
(g) have up to date general knowledge about the country including its politics and economy and detailed knowledge of the commercial sectors for which he is responsible: this is gained by planned visits.