To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what new projects related to (a) property rights, (b) microfinance, (c) small and medium-sized enterprise finance and (d) investment climate reform have been developed following the commitment in section 3.1(ii) of his Department's most recent business plan.

Property rights feature in three of several programmes developed on investment climate. Two programmes are in implementation: (i) the Facility to Utilise UK Specialist Expertise from UK government departments (iFUSE) and (ii) a programme to strengthen regulatory and planning capacity for infrastructure development in Mozambique. The design of a third programme in Nigeria was strengthened to improve impact. The development of three additional programmes in Ghana, Ethiopia and Tanzania is advanced while a new programme is at an early stage of development in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Several financial sector programmes have been developed, which incorporate microfinance and small and medium sized enterprise (SME) finance components. These include new financial sector development programmes in India and Zimbabwe and two centrally funded multi-country SME finance and microfinance initiatives. Other financial sector programmes in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Nepal, Pakistan, Uganda and Zambia are in the advanced stages of design.