The Chemical Industries Association (CIA) today gave its backing to the CBI’s Making the UK the Best Place to Invest report, launched today (Tuesday). The report calls on the Government to bolster the UK’s attractiveness to investors, warning that without action, investment and jobs will be lost to other countries.
Commenting in the report Paul Booth, Chairman of SABIC UK Petrochemicals and CIA member said:
“We have a golden opportunity to rebuild and rebalance the UK economy in an economically and environmentally sustainable way. To achieve this, the Government must articulate an overall vision that captures maximum value for the UK as we rebuild.”
The report echoes long-standing calls by the CIA to make the UK a more attractive place to invest through tax reduction and simplification; proper funding for high quality apprenticeships; investment in our science base and innovation and securing sustainable energy supply. Commenting on the work, Steve Elliott, CIA Chief Executive said:
“This report’s emphasis on the UK’s urgent need to boost its international competitiveness in terms of tax, innovation, skills, regulation and general investment ‘mood music’, provides a very immediate reminder to Government and business that the UK is on a very long road back to economic recovery.
The recent Budget and Government’s Plan for Growth offer a good start, but that is all. UK chemical businesses – underpinning everything from electronics, building materials and cosmetics through to detergents, medicines and cars – stand ideally placed to deliver the trade and investment required for sustained economic growth and we must do all we can to ensure that “rebalancing” the UK economy becomes real and tangible.
Nowhere is this more critical than in the energy and climate change arena, where the cumulative impact of policy measures - the most recent being the establishing of a minimum carbon price – leave many strategic businesses facing at least a doubling in their energy costs by 2020”.
Contact Name: Fiona Ferguson