§ Mr. PawseyTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what inward investment from outside the United Kingdom took place in the midlands region in each year since 1985; what percentage this constituted of total United Kingdom investment; what were the principal sources of the investment; what were the industries principally involved; and what estimate he has made of the number of jobs which resulted. [14253]
§ Mr. OppenheimThe midlands remains a diverse region of the United Kingdom and continues to attract inward investment from many countries and sectors. Principal sources of investment are the United States, Germany and Japan, with automotive/automotive components, electronics, food processing, textiles, textile machinery, chemicals/chemical handling, plastics and general engineering forming the principal industries. The breakdown of project numbers and associated jobs over the period covering both the west and east midlands is as follows.
Year Number of Mids projects Number of UK projects Mids per cent. of UK total Associated jobs 1985–86 106 420 25 9,365 1986–87 77 356 21 8,613 1987–88 76 363 20 11,606 1988–89 96 348 21 12,052 1989–90 109 375 29 26,858 1990–91 88 356 24 13,617 1991–92 47 332 14 5,778 1992–93 43 303 14 4,062 1993–94 105 404 25 149,797 1994–95 106 453 23 23,936 1 Figures include safeguarded jobs associated with BMW acquisition of Rover. All the figures given are based on numbers of projects notified to the Invest in Britain Bureau at the time of the decision to invest. Companies are under no obligation to notify their investment decision and the figures take no account of subsequent developments.