UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said today that international business and government should work together to secure a global recovery in 2010.
LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said today that international business and government should work together to secure a global recovery in 2010.
“If 2009 was the year of global recession, then 2010 must be the year of global recovery.”
The Prime Minister is hosting the Global Investment Conference, a gathering of 250 world business leaders, academics and entrepreneurs in London, including US companies such as Boeing, Johnson & Johnson and Dupont.
In the UK alone, investment from foreign companies created and safeguarded over 800,000 jobs in the last decade. On average, over 30 companies per week invest in the UK, the number one country in Europe at attracting inward investment.
Last year, the UK attracted 621 projects from the United States.
The gathering of global business leaders to discuss growth and investment comes less than 12 months after the world’s political leaders met in London for the G20 summit to talk about how to rescue the global economy.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said:
“If 2009 was the year of global recession, then 2010 must be the year of global recovery.
“This is not about a partnership of governments or a partnership of international business, but a partnership of international business and government. It is about how together we can lock in the recovery and grasp the opportunities of the future.”
At the conference, organised by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), Ministers will announce:
Also speaking at the conference is Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter, focusing on future global investment trends. Other conference speakers include Nick Fry, Chief Executive of Mercedes GP; Canning Fok, Group Managing Director of Hutchison Whampoa; and Andrei Kostin, Chairman and Chief Executive of Russia’s VTB Bank.
According to international business, the UK owes its top ranking as a destination for inward investment to its excellent business environment; the wealth of talent, creativity and innovation in the UK; and its location as a gateway to Europe and the world.
Showcasing the UK’s creative excellence at the conference will be: Jonathan Ive, Apple’s Senior Vice President, Industrial Design; Christopher Bailey, Chief Creative Officer at Burberry; Sir John Sorrell, Chairman of the London Design Festival; and Susan Searle, Chief Executive of Imperial Innovations plc, which commercialises innovations from London’s Imperial College, one of four UK universities in the world’s top six.
The Prime Minister will say that the UK is committed to improving the business environment for investors by simplifying planning processes, developing new infrastructure, and maintaining stable and clear regulation.
Business Secretary Lord Mandelson, Chancellor Alistair Darling, Minister for Trade, Investment and Small Business Lord Davies of Abersoch and Minister for Science and Innovation Lord Drayson will be among the senior Government figures speaking at the conference.
Lord Davies said:
“The investment decisions of the world business leaders who have gathered in London today will play a vital role in the global economic recovery. We are here to listen, to learn and to act. By restoring flows of investment, and sparking innovation, we can promote economic growth and prosperity around the world.”
Companies making announcements at the conference include Imperial College Business School, which will collaborate with Microsoft; Malaysian-owned Tune Hotels; Indian financial services group Religare Enterprises Ltd; Ireland’s Mainstream Renewable Power; and Canada’s PharmaTrust.
UK Investment facts
Notes to Editors:
