Schools Standards Minister David Miliband praised the North East's "languages hit squad" on a visit to the region yesterday.
Mr Miliband was at a regional event staged by the Regional Language Network North-East, at Sunderland's Stadium of Light, to hear how The Network has been leading the way in driving international communication skills up the business agenda.
The Network was established as a joint initiative by One NorthEast and the Languages National Training Organisation (LNTO) just over a year ago, in response to an audit in 2000 that showed that one in five North-East companies doing business overseas believed they had lost trade because of poor language or cultural awareness skills.
Since then, it has highlighted examples of best practice in the region, while also making sure that businesses looking to trade internationally know where to go for help in improving their international communications skills.
The Minister and MP for South Shields said: "I am delighted to see the Regional Language Network leading the way for the North-East.
"Now is our chance to lead the way for Britain."
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