VISIT TO INDIA (Results)

Mr William Tan asked the Minister for Commerce and Industry whether the visit of the Assistant Minister for Commerce and Industry to India in December last was an official visit sponsored by the Government; and what were the results of the visit.

Mr Marshall: Yes, Sir. My colleague the Assistant Minister for Commerce and Industry accompanied me to New Delhi where we were the guests of the Government of India. He assisted me in my various discussions with the Prime Minister and other Ministerial colleagues in India, and after our interview with the Indian Minister for Commerce he carried on alone the discussions with the officials of that Ministry on the question of the grant of Commonwealth preference duties on exports of produce from Singapore. This is a matter, Sir, on which we have made repeated representations, and I have reason to believe that now with a fuller picture before them the Indian Government is reconsidering this request.