To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what progress has been made so far with the allocation of expenditure to each of the former eastern bloc countries under the technology transfer fund; and if he will make a statement;(2) what is the total expenditure so far allocated on individual projects out of the technology transfer fund set up to assist the development of eastern bloc countries; and in which of the categories within the fund the projects fit;(3) if he will give details of the staffing, training and qualifications of the unit set up to administer the technology transfer fund with the former eastern bloc countries.

I assume that by "technology transfer fund" the hon. Gentleman means the know-how fund, Britain's programme of bilateral technical assistance to the countries of central and eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. The fund was first established for Poland in 1989 and subsequently, extended to Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, the Baltic states and the Soviet Union. We have made public commitments to spend £50 million in Poland, £25 million in Hungary and £50 million in the Soviet Union, but we have not set financial ceilings for any other country.Know-how fund expenditure by country in the last financial year, and commitments made to date for 1991–92 are as follows:

	Spent 1990–91	Committed 1991–92
	£ million	£ million
Poland	10·9	12·1
Hungary	1·6	5·9
Czechoslovakia	2·0	4·3
Ex-GDR	0·5	n/a
Bulgaria	n/a	1·3
Romania	n/a	1·3
Soviet Union	n/a	8·8

The funds have been used to finance some 390 projects, the overwhelming majority of which fall within a small number of priority sectors of key importance to the economic reform programme. These are principally: banking and financial services; management development and training; public administration, and employment and small business support. For the Soviet Union the four designated priority sectors are banking and financial services, small business creation, food distribution and energy. In addition to this, there are two schemes established to encourage British investments in the region (the pre-investment feasibility studies, and training for investment personnel schemes). To date £2·3 million has been allocated under these schemes.The joint assistance unit, which was established to administer the know-how fund, is staffed by a total of 32 officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Overseas Development Administration, and the Department of Trade and Industry. Collectively they have a wide range of experience in administrative, aid and trade-related matters. A number of members of the unit have lived and worked in eastern Europe; six of them speak Russian, one Polish, one Czech and one Slovak. The unit has access to a wide range of professional advisers, both in-house, and contracted to it by the Overseas Development Administration. An advisory board has also been established which comprises senior figures from industry, the trade unions, finance and journalism, as well as Members of Parliament and academics with a particular interest in eastern Europe.