Roberta Blackman-Woods (Durham, City of, Labour)

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on the establishment of a UK Trade and Investment representation in Afghanistan.

Ivan Lewis (Minister of State (Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs), Foreign and Commonwealth Office; Bury South, Labour)

Building up the basics of the licit private sector economy is vital before we can expect substantial UK investment in Afghanistan, therefore there have not yet been substantive discussions at ministerial level on this issue. At present, UK Trade and Investment has no presence in Afghanistan and does not proactively support UK companies in this market. However, UK officials liaise periodically with our embassy in Kabul and lobbying on behalf of British companies may be carried out on a case-by-case basis by the embassy.

The UK's economic development efforts in Afghanistan are focussed on stimulating economic growth and job creation through private sector and agricultural development, as well as building the capacity of the economic ministries. The UK (through the Department for International Development) contributes £30 million to Harakat, an investment facility working to encourage private sector investment. The Department for International Development is also investing in the Supporting Employment and Enterprise Development programme, which will create a fund to help Afghan businesses develop innovative ideas, fund skills development, as well as supporting the Microfmance Investment and Support Facility for Afghanistan (MISFA) which has extended micro-credit and savings facilities to over 440,000 Afghans.