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7 July 1982]
[Sir Peter Emery Contd.]
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE
MR PETER REES, MP, MR C B BENJAMIN and MR A DUNNING
as well informed as you are. Manioc sounds to me like somewhere in the middle of Dartmoor, but I am certain that it is not what you were referring to. Therefore, it would be very helpful if you could explain exactly what those initials mean and what relevance they have to the question you were answering.
(Mr Rees.) Sir Peter may recall that this arose out of the question of agricultural products and whether there were any diffi- culties as to exports between this country and any of the countries of ASEAN. So I ventured to say I did not think we exported any agricultural products but we do import some from them and the only point of difficulty of which I am aware is that the Community has been trying to restrict the imports of manioc. It is not, so far as I know, initials but some kind of oriental grain. I am going to turn again, if I may, to Mr Dunning.
26. I am glad you do not know either, Minister!
(Mr Rees.) It has no connection with Devon and I do not have any animals to which I feed manioc myself. I believe it is used in animal feed. Perhaps Mr Dunning can enlighten the Committee on the precise nature of manioc.
(Mr Dunning.) I am not sure that I can enlighten you on the precise nature of it, but it is otherwise known as tapioca. It is a cereal used in animal foodstuffs.
Mr McNally
27. To bring this section to a close, Minister, we rather get the impression that there are not many pressures for protection- ism from this area from British industry. Therefore, would you say that this is a market where British manufacturing indus- try and service industries could expand without any pressures on our domestic market being necessarily expected of any kind of reciprocal nature? Is this a growth market for British Industry without neces- sarily exposing our own industry to pres- sures in return?
(Mr Rees.) With the slight reservation over the question of textiles to which I think they do attach importance, yes, I think this a growth market, although we are facing keen competition, particularly from people like the Japanese.
28. On the market itself, is it unfair to say that the ASEAN countries have demon- strated themselves as rather tetchy trading
[Continued
partners? One thinks of the recent cases of Malysia and Indonesia in particular, but are they aggressive trading partners? Do we have to tread warily?
(Mr Rees.) I would hesitate to generalise. I think that our relations with Indonesia at the moment are extremely good and I certainly myself last September found that the differences of opinion over textiles and British imports into Indonesia were never raised and seemed very much to have receced entirely from the foreground of people's thinking. Our commercial and industrial relationship with Malaysia exhib- its a special situation due, of course, to the directive of the Malaysian Prime Minister that there should be discrimination against British tenders.
Sir Peter Emery
29. Can we go on from that Minister? Do you see or notice either outwardly or tacitly co-ordination between the import and export policies of ASEAN countries?
(Mr Rees.) I may perceive a link, and we are always being encouraged to import more of their goods, but I have to indicate ours is a very open market and this admin- istration cannot on the whole conduct their export drive. But I think that, yes, with the possible exception of Singapore, they would like to see some kind of balance, but the point I make is that we live in a world of multi-lateral trade relations.
30. Are they co-ordinating their devel- opment policies, leaving Singapore to one side as I know they would not, but are the other ASEAN countries attempting to co- ordinate their development?
(Mr Rees.) Inside the group?
31. Yes.
(Mr Rees.) No. Well, I do not know what the theoretical position is. I would say with a certain diffidence that there did not seem to be much evidence of it. There is, of course. an ASEAN secretariat based in Jakarta, but I did not sense that there was a very tight overall supervision or control of the development of the area as a whole.
Mr Foster
32. Did I hear the Minister aright? Did he say on the whole this administration, the present Government, cannot conduct an export drive?
(Mr Rees.) No, no. I am sorry, I did not put that clearly. I conveyed to them, as I said, a theme that crops up in discussions,
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