Rishi Sunak hails huge vote of confidence in UK

London: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday announced that the world’s leading investors have committed GBP 29.5 billion in new projects and capital as a “huge vote of confidence” in the UK economy. The British Indian leader, who welcomed CEOs of some of the world’s leading businesses for a Global Investment Summit at Hampton Court Palace in London, said that thousands of jobs will be created across the country, including tech, life sciences, renewables, housing and infrastructure.

Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Barclays, HSBC and Lloyds Bank are among those represented at the “British Ideas – Past, Present and Future” entitled summit, to be followed by a reception at Buckingham Palace hosted by King Charles III. “Today’s investments, worth more than GBP 29 billion, will create thousands of new jobs and are a huge vote of confidence in the future of the UK economy,” said Sunak.

“Global CEOs are right to back Britain – we are making this the best place in the world to invest and do business...Attracting global investment is at the heart of my plan for growing the economy. With new funding pouring into key industries like clean energy, life sciences and advanced technology, inward investment is creating high-quality new jobs and driving growth right across the country,” he said.

Downing Street points out that the new wave of investments come after UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt unveiled the “biggest business tax cut” in modern history at last week’s Autumn Statement with a permanent extension of capital allowances, GBP 4.3 billion of business rates support and a GBP 7 billion Growth Fund.

“The numbers speak for themselves: we have the third highest levels of inward investment in the world at $2.7 trillion, we’re number one in Europe for new investment projects, and last year alone we created 107,000 jobs through inward investment,” said UK Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch, who opened the summit with Sunak.