{"id":45526,"date":"2014-07-23T14:12:38","date_gmt":"2014-07-23T14:12:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=2b521e108843bbd19a0ba05d334bbe58"},"modified":"2014-07-23T14:12:38","modified_gmt":"2014-07-23T14:12:38","slug":"speech-prime-ministers-speech-commonwealth-games-business-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=45526","title":{"rendered":"Speech: Prime Minister\u2019s speech: Commonwealth Games Business Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

It\u2019s fantastic to be here in Glasgow today. <\/p>\n

The athletes are arriving, the venues are ready, the crowds are gearing up and we\u2019re looking forward to a fantastic Commonwealth Games. <\/p>\n

For us, the legacy of these Games won\u2019t just be measured in medals won or records broken \u2013 though of course those things are great.<\/p>\n

It will be measured in young lives inspired, Glasgow promoted to the world \u2013 and yes, in deals done, contracts won, businesses boosted and jobs created. <\/p>\n

Remember: at London 2012 we didn\u2019t just win 65 medals, we switched the world back on to London and the UK \u2013 and won \u00a314 billion for the economy, in sales, investments and contracts. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s the British way: going for gold in all its forms.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s what these Games are about, too: showing the UK off to the world. <\/p>\n

Now I\u2019ve been accused of being a salesman before; frankly I take that as a compliment not an insult. <\/p>\n

I see it as a big part of my job to sell the UK: to bang the drum for our businesses, and that\u2019s what I\u2019m here to do today. <\/p>\n

So I want to set out the 3 big commitments we have made to make Britain such a good place to invest, to partner with and to do business with. <\/p>\n

So commitment 1: making Britain the world\u2019s most open and welcoming economy.<\/p>\n

This country is the largest destination for foreign direct investment in Europe. That didn\u2019t just happen by accident. <\/p>\n

Investors didn\u2019t just close their eyes a stick a pin in a map.<\/p>\n

They opened their eyes and saw an open, welcoming economy with a corporation tax which – at 21% – is set to be the lowest in the G7, a Patent Box that slashes taxes for those developing new products and making them here and a generous tax relief for research and development.<\/p>\n

They saw historic levels of investment in infrastructure, too.<\/p>\n

Right here in Scotland we\u2019ve got a \u00a31 billion city deal for Glasgow<\/a>, a \u00a3230 million loan guarantee for Grangemouth and \u00a3100 million investment to extend rural broadband from Eyemouth to Stromness.<\/p>\n

This is taking place right across the UK. We\u2019ve got the biggest construction project in Europe going on under London in Crossrail<\/a>. We\u2019ve given the green light to a new high-speed north-south rail line and we\u2019ve got superfast broadband<\/a> spreading all over our country.<\/p>\n

And when you add all this to the UK\u2019s other advantages: our time zone, the fact that we speak the world\u2019s global language, that we have some of the best universities in the world \u2013 not least Glasgow, Edinburgh, St Andrews, Stirling \u2013 that we have Scotland\u2019s wind and waves, its oil and gas and its creativity and innovation then you have a truly enticing prospect for any international investor. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s why we\u2019ve seen foreign direct investment going up and up.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s why we saw a record-breaking 1,773 projects funded by foreign investors last year like the Swedish company Vattenfall building wind farms in Wales, like Australia\u2019s Wolf Minerals investing in metal exploration in Devon and like Belgian payments firm Clear2pay expanding its base here in Scotland.<\/p>\n

Indeed, foreign investment in UK assets is now 63% of our GDP with Malaysia helping to rebuild our cities, India investing in our cars and Dubai working on our ports.<\/p>\n

Look at the North Sea and it\u2019s not just the UK investing in our oil and gas industry \u2013 it\u2019s Norway and the UAE.<\/p>\n

Look at Silicon Glen and it\u2019s not just Britain funding the latest technology \u2013 it\u2019s America and Switzerland.<\/p>\n

Look at the Moray Firth, and it\u2019s not just local companies ploughing money into offshore wind \u2013 it\u2019s Japan and Spain.<\/p>\n

Today foreign investment in the UK is at its highest level since records began.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not a reason to rest on our laurels \u2013 it\u2019s a reason to go even further. <\/p>\n

And we are \u2013 the investment keeps rolling in with CGI almost doubling its Glasgow workforce, Kaiam Corporation building a new production facility in Livingston and SAS, Wipro and Clough all expanding and creating more jobs right here in the UK.<\/p>\n

And talking of investment, I\u2019m delighted that Flybe has today announced that it is investing in a new route launching daily flights from Aberdeen to London City later this year and keeping connected the thriving economy of north-east Scotland.<\/p>\n

Commitment 2 has been to promote trade and industry around the world. <\/p>\n

When I came into government I walked over to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and I said \u2018your job description is changing\u2019. <\/p>\n

To our diplomats I said \u2018you\u2019re not just ambassadors for the UK \u2013 you\u2019re ambassadors for UK PLC\u2019. <\/p>\n

To our ministers I said \u2018you\u2019re not just representing UK government \u2013 you\u2019re representing UK business\u2019.<\/p>\n

Where British foreign policy was in retreat, it is now on the advance.<\/p>\n

Where trade was seen as secondary, it is now at the heart of our diplomacy.<\/p>\n

Where Britain was focusing on its continental neighbours rather than its Commonwealth friends, exports to non-EU countries have increased by nearly 19%.<\/p>\n

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has been a big part of connecting us with the fastest growing parts of the world \u2013 and yes, that includes the Commonwealth.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve increased our diplomatic presence in India \u2013 now bigger than any other country\u2019s, including America \u2013 and only this month we announced a new deputy high commission in Ahmedabad.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve expanded our reach in Turkey, Mexico, Indonesia, Burma, Thailand, Mongolia, Nigeria and more.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve taken trade delegations around the world, from Brazil to Malaysia, with business people from around the UK, including Aggreko and Standard Life from here in Scotland.<\/p>\n

And with UKTI we\u2019ve been running a totally unprecedented campaign \u2013 the GREAT campaign \u2013 emblazoning the Union flag from the skyscrapers of Dubai to the tuk tuks of Cambodia and telling people that Great Britain is a great place to do business.<\/p>\n

And all this is working. Our exports to China are up by 115%, to India by 55%.<\/p>\n

It is a golden era for UK exports, driven by our luxury brands.<\/p>\n

To give you just one example from here in Scotland \u2013 Scotch whisky is selling at record levels from America to China to Russia to the Gulf. In fact sales are now worth \u00a3135 a second to the UK balance of trade.<\/p>\n

The prizes for businesses in Scotland and across the UK are incredible.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why I\u2019ll keep on flying the flag for Britain every chance I can.<\/p>\n

And commitment 3: backing the UK\u2019s strengths.<\/p>\n

My industrial policy is clear. I don\u2019t believe in picking winners, but I do believe in backing them.<\/p>\n

Wherever the UK has a strength, we will build on it.<\/p>\n

Wherever we have an advantage, we will use it. <\/p>\n

You only have to look around Scotland to see some of the big strengths we have in this country. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s Clyde Space, where they\u2019ve launched one of the smallest satellites to go into space. <\/p>\n

Up in the Rosyth shipyard there\u2019s the largest aircraft carrier in history, HMS Queen Elizabeth.<\/p>\n

In Edinburgh the city\u2019s getting a name as a global hub for tech start-ups.<\/p>\n

In Aberdeen they\u2019re taking the expertise, won through years of deep sea exploration, and applying it to creating the newest sources of green energy.<\/p>\n

One of the UK\u2019s greatest strengths is financial services.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a Scottish strength, too, supporting 200,000 jobs here.<\/p>\n

And there is an inextricable link between the success of the City of London and the globally renowned financial centres of Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee and Glasgow.<\/p>\n

We as a government don\u2019t just see these industries and think \u2018fantastic, let the tax revenue roll in\u2019.<\/p>\n

We are an unashamedly activist government.<\/p>\n

And to back Scotland\u2019s biggest success stories we\u2019re doing everything we can \u2013 removing the barriers to selling Scottish whisky around the world, giving decommissioning relief to the oil industry and reducing taxes for the film and gaming industries. <\/p>\n

That is our commitment: to take the giants of British industry and make them greater still.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to end by saying this.<\/p>\n

The Commonwealth has a great history of trade.<\/p>\n

We are, after all, a common wealth, not just united by history, culture and values but by trade and prosperity.<\/p>\n

And the UK \u2013 with Scotland at its heart \u2013 has a great history of trade, too.<\/p>\n

This is the country of great inventors like Alexander Graham Bell, who made the telephone and exported it to the world.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the country of great thinkers like Adam Smith, who paved the way for modern industrial economies and of textile merchants like Alexander Chalmers, whose trading relationship with Poland was so close that he ended up living there and becoming Mayor of Warsaw.<\/p>\n

And together \u2013 we can have a great future, too.<\/p>\n

We are committed to achieving that, by creating that open, welcoming economy by promoting that trade and industry around the world and by getting full square behind our great UK industries so we can make them even greater.<\/p>\n

All we need you to do is to come here, and to invest.<\/p>\n

So welcome to Scotland \u2013 and enjoy the Games.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Held prior to the Opening Ceremony, the conference will be the main focus of the business programme during the 2014 Commonwealth Games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45526"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45526\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}