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The Rt. Hon. Patricia HewittThe Annual Dinner of The British Israel Chamber of Commerce |
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Your Excellency, Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am delighted to be with you this evening I would like to begin by congratulating Lord Young upon his recent appointment as Chairman of the B-ICC. As a former holder of the office of Secretary of State for Trade & Industry, I wish him well in this post and will follow his future with interest. I'd also like to add tribute to the enormous service paid by Mr Ivor Levene to the development of trade between the UK and Israel and to congratulate him, not only on becoming Chief Executive of the Chamber in September, but also on having his unstinting efforts on behalf of the UK rewarded in the New Year's Honours list. Last year, this Chamber celebrated the 50th Anniversary of its establishment; a testament to the enduring relationship that is underpinned by the many values and traditions shared by the UK and Israel. Over the last 50 years, the Chamber has played, and continues to play, a pivotal role in promoting the development of the UK/Israel business partnership. I am also particularly pleased that the Chamber has developed a close working relationship with Trade Partners UK. This is particularly important following the decision last year to include Israel in Trade Partners' list of 14 target markets worldwide. One of the main aims of the target market campaign is to encourage more British Companies to look at the possibilities offered in the Israeli market. The campaign has the luxury of being able to build on strong foundations. Israel is the UK's third largest market in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Last year UK/Israel bilateral trade reached a record £2.5 billion. Apart from trade in goods and services, Britain and Israel continue to invest in each other's future as mutual partners. The UK is one of the largest foreign investors in Israel, and we are keen to complement this by encouraging Israel to harness the opportunities of the UK as the gateway to Europe. However, I do know that it is not all plain sailing and that there are concerns over the export licence application process. We do take your concerns seriously. We have made some improvements to the process already and we will continue to try and make things better. And what of the future for trade? Well, it looks bright. Alongside the endeavors of the Chamber, new bilateral activity is thriving, and none more so than in the area of high technology. One highly successful initiative was to create The British-Israel Technology Foundation under the stewardship of its Chief Executive, Dr Tony Warwick. This has provided over £2.8 million of financial support over the last two years to British companies entering collaborative technology ventures with Israel partners. On top of that, a further £1 million pounds is allocated for future activity. A new software tool for the financial services community and innovative health care technology projects are just a flavour of the projects attracting recent backing. And with support for 10 partnerships since its launch in 1999 and a further eight proposals currently under assessment, I have little doubt that this initiative will continue to be a cornerstone in high technology collaboration. UK/ Israeli partnerships are highly valued by British companies and I've no doubt that these partnerships will continue to develop and flourish. In pursuit of this, I am very pleased to see that Trade Partners UK have created an Israel forum with members including the chief executives of the Chamber and the Business Council, alongside representatives of BRITECH and other senior business representatives. This group will prove to be a major asset in steering and developing our Target Market Campaign. I think my address tonight would be incomplete if I didn't say a few words about the global economy. Of course current economic conditions are challenging. For the first time for three decades, economic growth in each region of the world has slowed at the same time - and more sharply than before. No one country can insulate its economy from such a synchronised slowdown. This is a challenge for us all – for business and for Governments across the world. It is a challenge we must rise to. I don't have all the answers. But I do believe that the solution – for Britain and Israel – lies in moving forward confidently. To draw on our inherent strengths, press ahead with economic reform, continue to develop our markets and continue to invest for the future. It is essential that business continues to innovate, to train, and to invest. And the role of government policy should be to enable that to happen as smoothly as possible. This will ensure that we will be well placed to prosper when global conditions improve. In Britain our starting point is good due to our solid foundations of macroeconomic stability. The economy is growing steadily - 2.25% growth last year. And this year the United Kingdom is expected to be the fastest growing country in the G7. But we are not complacent. We will continue to steer a course of stability and build on this to raise productivity. Our two countries have a shared aim: to lead in technology and knowledge. But in a globalised world, no one country can achieve this. Partnership is the only option. By continuing to develop this partnership, and using our respective strengths, the possibilities are boundless. There is also another matter that I would like to raise tonight. You may remember how, nearly three years ago, the Government, responding to representations led by Lord Janner, decided to set right what we believed to be a long-standing injustice. During the Second World War the British Government confiscated the assets in this country belonging to enemy aliens. That is standard practice in war, but some of the owners were enemy aliens only in the technical sense that they found themselves living in enemy territory. Some of them suffered more from the Nazis than we did here. After the War, there were attempts to return assets to those who had suffered, but for various reasons not all of them were returned. In 1999, we established an independent panel, under the chairmanship of Lord Archer of Sandwell, whose job it was to invite claims from the owners or their heirs. The number of claims received was considerably greater than we anticipated, and the Panel's work has consequently taken much longer than was originally planned. So far, 1078 claims have been submitted and assessed and over £7million has already been paid to the claimants. Well, Lord Archer has now told me that he expects the Panel to complete the assessment of all the existing claims by Spring of this year. Once all the claims are assessed it is our intention that the Scheme will close. But we do not wish anyone who may be eligible to miss out because they are not aware that they may have a claim. Potential claimants now live in widespread parts of the world, with a number in Israel. We have already done what we can to make the Scheme known to potential claimants, but we still find people telling us that they missed the announcement. My intention is to publicise the imminent completion of the Enemy Property Payment Scheme as widely as possible in all relevant countries. It is therefore very important that anyone who considers that they may be eligible to claim should do so as soon as possible. Perhaps I can conclude by thanking Lord Young, the Chairman, for inviting me here and giving me the opportunity to speak. I would also like to thank Sir Trevor Chin, Mr Dan Gillerman and the Business Council for all of the sterling work that they, alongside of the Chamber, continue to do on behalf of our two countries. I'd also like to extend my thanks to all of you, for taking the time from your busy schedules at a particularly testing time in world markets - and at a time of heightened tensions in the Middle East. Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to extend my best wishes to the Chamber. I sincerely hope they continue their excellent work for the next 50 years and beyond. Thank you |
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Other speeches by The Rt. Hon. Patricia Hewitt
(the following are available from the archive) |
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