To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what assistance his Department provides to businesses from the Maldives wishing to (a) invest in the UK and (b) take part in joint ventures with UK companies; how much his Department made available for these purposes in each of the last two years; and if he will make a statement. (289622)

Businesses from any country, including the Maldives, are provided with assistance to invest in the UK or take part in joint ventures with UK companies either by UK Trade and Investment or the English Regional Development Agencies or Devolved Administrations. Full details of these services are available publicly on UKTI’s website and the websites of the DAs and RDAs.

There are no specific funds for either investment or trade with any one market.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the value of (a) import and (b) exports of (i) goods and (ii) services between the Maldives and the United Kingdom was in each of the last 10 years. (289610)

The information is as follows.

(i) Overseas Trade Statistics data for UK trade in goods with the Maldives are shown in the following table.

(ii) Data on trade in services are not available for the full 10 years requested. Table 9.13 of the UK Balance of Payments “Pink Book 2009” gives the following figures for UK trade in services with the Maldives

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he (a) has taken in the last 12 months and (b) plans to take in the next 12 months to increase trade between the United Kingdom and the Maldives; how much his Department has spent on the promotion of trade between the United Kingdom and the Maldives in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. (289611)

The UK trade and investment team in Colombo which is responsible for trade and investment relations with the Maldives has undertaken a scoping mission to the Maldives and maintains regular contact with the Maldivian Ministry of Commerce. This scoping mission cost approximately £300. No other expenditure has been incurred in the last 12 months.

In the coming 12 months UKTI has arranged for the Maldivian high commissioner in London to give a presentation on opportunities in the market to its regional trade advisers.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many officials in his Department of each grade worked on the promotion of trade between the United Kingdom and the Maldives (a) in each year between 1998 and 2008 and (b) on the most recent date for which figures are available. (289612)

UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) does not deliver official services in the Maldives, but lobbying on behalf of British companies may be carried out on a case by case basis by the high commission in Colombo. It is not therefore possible to give a precise breakdown of staff time spent on trade promotion in the Maldives.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much trade with the Maldives contributed to gross domestic product in each of the last two years; what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in the Maldives on increasing trade between the UK and the Maldives; and if he will make a statement. (289623)

Due to the difficulty of differentiating between the impact of trade and other factors on growth, it is not possible to quantify precisely the impact of trade with another country on GDP. The value of UK exports of goods and services to the Maldives in each of 2007 and 2008 corresponded to about 0.001 per cent. of the value of UK GDP, and UK imports from the Maldives to about 0.01 per cent.

No formal discussions regarding increased bilateral trade have taken place. However my officials are in regular contact with the Maldives high commission and the UK trade and investment team in Colombo maintains regular contact with the Maldives Ministry of Commerce.