As a Minister in the Department for International Trade I had the opportunity to speak in a Westminster Hall Debate this week on Foreign Investment into the UK.
The link for the full debate is posted below but the following are some of the points I raised during my speech.
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The Department for International Trade is responsible for promoting the UK as a destination for investment for the whole of the UK.
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We will look to attract investment across all of the English regions, all of the devolved regions, including Greater London, the midlands engine and the northern powerhouse, and, of course, the south and south-west.
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In March, I launched the midlands engine investment hub to act as a focal point for foreign direct investment
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We intend to leverage our presence in 108 markets around the world—we are in 179 diplomatic posts in 108 countries and we will utilise these networks to bang the drum for UK plc to overseas investors.
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We have a strong global footprint. The UK leads Europe in foreign direct investment and is third in the world for inward FDI stock. My Department welcomed a record-breaking number of FDI projects to the UK in 2016-17, at 2,265—up 2% on 2015-16.
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The level of FDI stock in the UK is currently at £950 billion. Inward investment into the UK is estimated to have created and safeguarded nearly 108,000 jobs in 2016-17 alone.
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Trade and investment is a key pillar of the Government’s industrial strategy, and I will convene colleagues from across Government to ensure that we target investment in the right areas and build an economy that works for everyone throughout the UK, including all our devolved regions.