Foreign investors continue to see investment opportunities in Northern Ireland as new figures published today by the Department for International Trade showed the country attracted 34 inward investment projects in 2016-17.

This led to over 1,600 new jobs being created providing security and stability to thousands of families.

In another record year, the UK attracted 2,265 foreign direct investment projects which led to the creation of nearly 15,000 new jobs across the country.

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP, said:

Today’s latest foreign direct investment figures show Northern Ireland continues to be an attractive place to do business. 34 inward investment projects were secured across the year, creating over 1,600 new jobs and meaning more people with a regular pay packet for themselves and their family.

Keeping the UK attractive to overseas business partners is important for our future success and we must continue to welcome investors that are willing to make a sustained, long-term commitment across the whole country as we build an economy that works for everyone.

International Trade Secretary, Rt Hon Liam Fox MP, said:

Northern Ireland has a strong track record in financial services, business and professional services, renewable energy, aerospace and biotechnology; I’m pleased overseas investors continue to recognise their expertise.

As an international economic department, the Department for International Trade will continue to promote the UK as a whole to potential investors and support the Invest NI to attract inward investment.

The figures published today show that the US retains the top spot accounting for 577 projects of all inward investment projects to the UK. China (including Hong Kong) remains in second place with 160 projects and last year’s third place India is joined by Australia and New Zealand in joint third place with 127 projects each.

Demonstrating the diversity of the UK’s economy, sectors that performed particularly well include technology, renewable energy, life sciences and the creative industries which all saw an increase in the number of projects.

As part of the government’s drive to attract inward investment, in January this year the department launched a major global marketing campaign – Invest in GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland – to promote the UK’s offering to international investors.

To date, the campaign has generated 1.4 million page views of the invest section of the great.gov.uk digital service and recorded over 540 prospective investor enquiries.

Notes to Editors

• The department records wider types of inward investment projects, including mergers and acquisitions and those that are not publicly announced by foreign investors.

• Therefore, the FDI project figures reported are different from those reported by external organisations, such as EY and FT, who track FDI project flows mostly based on investment announcements.

• These external organisations report on calendar year, while the department’s statistics are for financial year.

• EY’s UK Attractiveness Survey 2017 ranked the UK first in Europe for FDI projects in total.

Guidance is now available on our preferred format for files of papers, both paper and electronic.

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Passengers travelling into and out of Bristol are set to benefit from a fleet of modern trains providing extra seating, air-conditioning, wi-fi and at-seat plugs.

Smart ticketing is also to be rolled out locally with trials of contactless payments now underway at 11 stations in the area to make journeys easier.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling today (6 July 2017) visited Bristol Temple Meads station to welcome the modern diesel Turbo trains, which launched for the first time on the Severn Beach line into the city this week and also to see progress on the smart ticketing trials.

The first train in the modern fleet marks stage one in a full rollout in the Bristol and wider area, providing passengers with more space and more comfort on their journeys to and from work.

They are being introduced on commuter routes into Bristol, Taunton, Cardiff, Gloucester and Portsmouth over the next year. The route between Temple Meads and Severn Beach via Clifton Down and Avonmouth was chosen first because it has seen some of the strongest growth of any community rail line in the country.

The introduction of electric trains between Maidenhead and London Paddington since May has allowed the release of the more modern diesel trains for passengers in the Bristol area.

Mr Grayling also saw a new pilot scheme at the station to introduce ticketless travel on rail journeys into and out of the city. The ‘Touch’ smart ticketing pilot is currently being tested at stations on the same Severn Beach line into Bristol and is jointly funded by train operator Great Western Railway (GWR) and Bristol City Council.

It is due to launch in September and will allow passengers the option of tapping in and out using cards as well as tickets. Gates along the route are being upgraded with smart readers as part of testing for the scheme. Smart ticketing is much more convenient for passengers because it allows paperless commuting and speedy, tap-and-go travel. It allows them to avoid queues when buying tickets and makes it easier to replace lost, stolen or damaged tickets.

During his visit, Mr Grayling met with GWR’s Engineering Director Andrew Mellor and representatives from Bristol City Council to see progress on the scheme and to take a look inside the cabs of the new Turbo fleet. He said:

The rollout of the more modern trains is great news for passengers in and around Bristol because they offer more seats, more facilities and greater comfort. It is a demonstration of our determination to put passengers at the heart of everything we do.

I applaud GWR and the City Council as well for their investment in the future of our railways with their smart ticketing venture. This is an excellent example of the vision the government spelled out at the end of last year – to give every passenger across the country the option of travelling on rail with a smart ticket or card by the end of 2018.

Nationally, the government has committed £80 million to expanding smart ticketing across the country. Around 450 stations across the south-east have already been upgraded to support the initiative.

More than 130,000 people are expected to head for the showground on the edge of Harrogate from Tuesday 11 to Thursday 13 July.

Andrew Charnick, Emergency Planning Officer for Highways England in Yorkshire, said:

About 130,000 people are expected to attend over the course of the three days and while we at Highways England do all we can to alleviate congestion on the major routes to the event and keep traffic flowing, obviously it will be busier than normal in this area.

We work very closely with partners including the police to ensure people travelling to events can get around as smoothly as possible. We are advising road users to plan their journeys into Harrogate next week – that might mean a simple check for congestion before leaving the house, delaying their journeys or even opting for a different mode of transport on the day.

We have a lot of experience of handling events like this and have tried and tested systems in place. We work with our emergency service colleagues to ensure those heading for the event get there with minimum fuss and delays.

Motorists not planning to attend the show should plan ahead and leave extra time, and check our twitter feeds and website for the latest information to ease their journeys over that weekend.

Drivers can check travel conditions before setting out on journeys. Highways England provides live traffic information via its website at www.trafficengland.com, local and national radio travel bulletins, electronic road signs and mobile apps.

Information is also available from Twitter as well as services in other regions and on our traffic information page.

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

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Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.

CDC – the UK’s and world’s oldest development finance institution – has today launched a new 5 year strategy that sets out how it will direct more investment into conflict and fragile states, drive innovation and improve its development impact and accountability.

The new strategy will ensure CDC can continue to make pioneering investments to create the jobs and opportunities needed to fight poverty in the hardest to reach places, and cement CDC at the heart of the UK’s work, promoting responsible, private investment to stimulate economic growth in the poorest countries.

In the last 3 years, businesses backed by CDC in Africa and South Asia have created over 3 million new jobs and generated over $9 billion worth of local tax revenue, helping support improvements to public services like health and education.

The new 5 year strategy, which will be launched by CDC’s new CEO, Nick O’Donohoe, builds on recent successes and addresses important issues raised by previous independent audits, development NGOs and Parliament.

CDC will continue to focus on creating jobs in Africa and South Asia and within these regions, on fragile and conflict affected countries such as DRC and Sierra Leone. CDC is committed to maximising its development impact through new and innovative approaches that can transform whole sectors – for instance increasing access to affordable medicines and developing clean off-grid solar technology.

The strategy keeps job creation at its heart, but broadens CDC’s impact goals to include women’s economic empowerment and climate change.

The strategy also commits CDC to increased levels of reporting on investments and achievements, making more data available online, improving transparency and accountability.

International Development Minister Lord Bates said:

Creating jobs and boosting prosperity in the poorest countries is a hallmark of Global Britain, furthering our national interests by developing our trading partners of the future.

CDC uses its expertise to invest in growing businesses that can create more and better jobs, tackle poverty and reduce aid dependency. And this is fundamentally about people. By strengthening infrastructure, businesses and markets, CDC is helping individuals find work so they can feed their families and send their children to school.

We have radically transformed CDC over the last 5 years to ensure their investments are targeted where they are needed most, and the new strategy reflects our shared ambitions for the organisation to have the greatest impact for the world’s poorest and deliver value for money for UK taxpayers.

Developing country markets has huge potential to become the UK’s trading partners of the future and to contribute to global prosperity. However, there is a currently a huge shortage of the investment needed to stimulate this growth.

The additional financing needed to achieve the UN Global Goals by 2030 is estimated at $2.5 trillion every year, but current investment levels are less than half of that. CDC is pivotal in forging the path for future investment by demonstrating that it is possible to invest responsibly and successfully in the hardest –to-reach places, encouraging more much-needed private sector capital to flow into these countries.

CDC, which is wholly owned by the UK government, uses its skills and expertise to support over 1200 businesses in over 70 of the poorest countries.

Every penny of profit generated by CDC is reinvested – this makes every penny of UK taxpayers’ money go even further.

Since 2012 all of CDC’s investments have been focused in developing countries in Africa and Asia – where 80% of the world’s poorest live – and where it can have the greatest impact for the world’s poorest and deliver value for money for UK taxpayers.