CAR manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover, which is owned by India’s Tata Motors, has said it will create 1,100 jobs to build new luxury car models at its West Midlands plant, as Britain looks to deep-pocketed Asian investors to help revive its economy.
Foreign companies announced over $8bn (£5bn) investment in the UK on Wednesday (July 25), just ahead of a series of summits held by the business ministry that is taking advantage of the London Olympics to attract a roster of international executives and sell the case for investing in Britain.
The Global Investment Conference begins on Thursday (July 26) and is described by the government as the largest investment event ever held in Britain.
“We believe it is very important to contribute to job creation in the UK,” said Hitachi chief strategy officer Shinya Mitsudomi at a press briefing in Tokyo as Britain approved a £4.5bn ($7bn) contract with a consortium led by Hitachi to build 92 intercity trains at a newly-built factory in County Durham, northern England.
“We have learned so much about the railroad system from the UK, we felt it would be fitting to return to the birthplace of the railway to return the favour,” Mitsudomi said.
And another significant Asian investor in Britain, Asia’s richest man Li Ka-Shing, will buy gas transportation and distribution company Wales and Water Utilities for around $1bn.
Ka-Shing’s companies already own Northumbrian Water, acquired last year, and spent £5.8bn on UK electricity distribution networks in 2010.
Britain, which is mired in its second recession in four years, saw GDP slump much more than expected in the second quarter, data showed on Wednesday, piling pressure on the government to come up with ways to get the economy moving again.
Manufacturing, and especially the largely foreign-owned car industry, has been one of the bright spots in the economy, with both Jaguar and Nissan announcing investments this year as auto production has surged, and General Motors choosing in May to build the Astra in the UK rather than Germany.
