My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (John Hutton) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

With my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, I am delighted to inform the House that the UK continues to be a world-class business destination.

UK Trade and Investment has announced today, in its launch of the UK Inward Investment Results 2006-07, that there were 1,431 direct investments in the UK by foreign-owned companies between 1 April 2006 and 31 March 2007 as reported by UK Trade and Investment and its partner agencies in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the English regional development agencies. This is an increase of 17 per cent on the year before and this reconfirms the UK's position as the top investment location in Europe. Overall, total jobs figures were down 12 per cent to 78,357, of which new jobs were up 7 per cent to 36,526.

This performance reflects the confidence which companies around the world continue to show in the business environment. The number of new projects has increased by 18 per cent from 508 in 2005-06 to 600 in 2006-07, while confirming 334 expansions by existing investors, which is down by just 1 per cent from 337 expansions the previous year.

UK Trade and Investment's five-year strategy, Prosperity in a Changing World, has refocused and restructured to concentrate on the areas where the Government can make the most difference to maintain and grow the UK economy. For inward investment, UK Trade and Investment is targeting high value, innovative inward investment and entrepreneurial talent, especially research and development projects that match and enhance the UK strengths. The UK has therefore positioned itself as a springboard for global growth for companies seeking to grow internationally from a UK base.

I am arranging for a copy of the UK Inward Investment Report 2006-07 to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.