§ Sir Anthony Meyerasked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will list for each of the English economic planning regions those American, Japanese and Canadian-owned companies which have opened new manufacturing units over the past five years; and to what extent he has information that a substantial part of the investments made have been with a view to exporting to the member States of the European Community or its European associates.
§ Mr. MacGregorI am sorry that I cannot provide the information in precisely the form requested. The table below shows, for each of the standard regions of the United Kingdom, the numbers of decisions, known to the Invest in Britain Bureau, taken by United States, Japanese and Canadian owned companies to invest in manufacturing projects, between January 1979—when these figures were first collected—and 31 October 1981; estimates of associated long term employment are also shown. A large number of foreign-owned companies have told the Invest in Britain Bureau that ready access to European Community or other European markets has been one reason for choosing a United Kingdom location for a manufacturing project.
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U.S.A. Canada Japan Projects Employment Projects Employment Projects Employment North West 12 1,158 1 915 — — Yorkshire and Humberside 20 988 2 206 — — East Midlands 6 675 2 105 1 5 West Midlands 6 610 — — — — South West 17 3,802 — — 1 300 London and South East 9 1,694 — — 1 8 Totals 166 25,388 17 5,150 14 4,351 * Estimates of associated employment are not known for every project.