Opinion Piece by Lord Green, Minister for Trade & Investment

100,000 jobs were created or safeguarded last year in the United Kingdom because of foreign companies investing there. Every day four companies made the decision to invest in the UK.

Investment has always been a sign of confidence. And confidence has been in short supply over the past few years as a credit crisis and now a sovereign debt crisis affect many parts of the world.

That is why it makes it all the more gratifying that so many companies still see the UK as the best place to invest in Europe. The inward investment results we have just announced show that despite global uncertainty, the UK is still one of the most attractive investment locations for foreign businesses.

In the 2010 – 2011 financial year, UK Trade & Investment New Zealand began over 40 new inward investment projects and assisted 13 companies to establish in the UK.

Companies who have decided to invest have made a long term decision. They have taken a view that if they invest their time and money they will get a return in better products, better services and better profits.

We have an excellent research and development base with UK expertise being behind 90 per cent of the chips used in mobile phones, involved in half of every Airbus plane, and responsible for developing or discovering fifteen of the world’s 75 top-selling medicines.

London has retained its enviable status as the world’s leading centre for finance and creative industries - a sector that goes from film and fashion to architecture and the media.

The UK has the most extensive broadband market in the G7, four of the world’s top six universities and is already a net exporter of low carbon goods and services.

And we now boast the world’s largest installed capacity of offshore wind electricity generation. When it comes to low-carbon technology we are committed to being forward-thinking and working with our international partners to have the most up-to-date technology available.

Foreign investment, of course, helps the UK in all sorts of ways, not least in the number of jobs created. So investing is not a zero-sum game. It can benefit everyone.

The UK is a place of long-term success. That is why we are one of the most open nations in the world.

But we are not stopping there. We want to expand the opportunities for investment that will deliver profits, create jobs and make sure the UK remains the best place to invest and grow in Europe.

Over the next few years the UK will begin an ambitious programme to modernise roads, utilities, ports railways and digital communications, to ensure we have the ideal infrastructure to support businesses well into the future.

Infrastructure is itself a major investment opportunity and over the next few years we want to encourage companies working in this field to think about investing in the UK.

Our strategy is a whole-of-Government approach to supporting investors’ interests in the UK. Through all departments we will support investors and make this their location of choice to set up and to grow.

We believe passionately in being open to business, because we know that when foreign companies invest and succeed, we can succeed too.

Lord Green.

ENDS

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