The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Vince Cable)
With my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, I am pleased to announce that UK Trade & Investment today launched the UK Inward Investment 2010/11 Report, giving the national figures for foreign direct investment over the financial year to March 2011.
Investment matters. It is a key priority if we are to secure the economic growth that will deliver future prosperity. The UK’s ability to attract and retain inward investment is at the heart of the Government’s economic recovery plans. These figures demonstrate how important investment is in stimulating growth and creating jobs.
In a year when inward investment is recovering from global uncertainty the UK has recorded a strong performance, attracting foreign investment from 54 countries between 1 April 2010 and 31 March 2011.
During the year ending March 2011, 1,434 investment projects landed in the UK. This is one of the highest figures ever recorded, although it is down on the previous year. The reduction is largely due to the continuing decline in mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures in a still difficult global marketplace.
These foreign direct investment projects created and safeguarded an estimated 94,598 jobs. This means that over 1,800 jobs were created or safeguarded every week through inward investment in this country. This is a slight (0.3%) increase on the previous year. Of the total, an estimated 41,936 were newly created jobs and 52,662 were safeguarded jobs.
In these results, the existing investor base in the UK has provided a vote of confidence in the UK. Two thirds of the new jobs—over 27,000—were generated by existing investors in the UK. This is a rise of 60% on the previous year.
The UK has to earn its standing in the world, not in isolation but with the whole of Government working together to improve further the UK’s world-leading business environment and our offer to international business.
UK Trade & Investment is the Government Department responsible for supporting international business, working closely with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and other public and private sector partners. In a year when competition for internationally mobile foreign direct investment is more fierce than ever, UK Trade & Investment is to be congratulated on significantly assisting a record number of foreign direct investment projects, (at 849, more than half of the total projects locating in the UK). UKTI’s inward investment successes have increased very substantially in both quantity and quality over the last three years. I and my right hon. Friend are determined that UKTI will continue significantly to increase the positive impact of its inward investment work on the UK economy over the next several years.
I am arranging for a copy of the UK Inward Investment 2010/11 Report by UK Trade & Investment to be placed in the Library of the House.