§ 29. Mr. Hugh Jenkinsasked the Secretary of State for Trade what are the relevant current trends in overseas investment of British companies in view of the fact that this increased to a sum exceeding £1,500 million in 1973 and 1974 and that only 16 per cent. was invested in underdeveloped countries; and how these trends compare with the overseas investment of other countries.
§ Mr. MeacherIn 1975 United Kingdom net private direct investment overseas, excluding oil, is provisionally estimated at £1,124 million, about £500 million less than in the two previous years. Direct investment in developing countries fluctuates from year to year and in 1973 and 1974 was a higher percentage of the total than in the two preceding years, when it was about 12 per cent. of total investment. The only other country for which comparable figures are available is the United States, and these also show much higher levels of direct investment overseas in 1973 and 1974. And there was a considerably larger increase in direct investment into the United States from all areas of the world.