LONDON, June 11 — Britain remains India’s most favoured European destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) and attracting 49 percent of funds from the country, according to a latest Ernst & Young (EY) report.
The annual UK attractiveness survey by the EY finds out of India’s total investment in Europe, the UK attracted 49 percent mainly in the automotive sector. “Looking across the BRICS’ FDI projects into Europe…the UK secures the highest market share of investments from India,” Press Trust of India (PTI) quotes the report as saying.
“There were 103 investment projects from India in the UK in 2013, up from 74 in 2012 and surpassing the strongest previous year of 2010 when there were 94 Indian investment projects in the UK,” it says.
Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) received a special mention for creating 1,500 jobs in the West Midlands, and helping to make that region a leader in generating employment from foreign investment.
Overall, the UK received a major vote of confidence from foreign investors after retaining its lead as Europe’s top inward investment destination for the 11th year running. The annual survey, which analyses inward investment and attitudes of global investors, reveals a 2.7 percent rise in foreign-backed UK projects in the face of an overall 2.8 percent decline in investment across Europe.
The UK’s 697 projects created a 1.4 percent rise in foreign direct investment jobs to 30,311. The report urges the UK to exploit London’s strength more widely, for instance by combining bids for multi-site or multi-function projects so that other regions can benefit from London’s pull.
“London performs amazingly well as a place where the world wants to do business, particularly in the knowledge industries which rely on a skilled, educated workforce,” said London Deputy Mayor for Business and Enterprise Kit Malthouse.
“We want to work with other regions to combine our strengths to make this country’s offer to global companies world-beating — MedCity is a great example of how we can do that,” he said.
-BERNAMA
