§ Mrs. Roeasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures he has taken to seek to encourage United States pharmaceutical investment in the United Kingdom.
Mr. MorrisonMedical products and biotechnology are among the key industry sectors in the United States from which it is aimed to attract investors through the Department's Invest in Britain Bureau's major promotional campaign—Britain Means Business. In collaboration with the public and private sectors, the bureau is conducting this campaign in addition to its normal activities and draws attention to the undoubted attractions of the United Kingdom to foreign investors, not least of which is the favourable business climate created by this Government.
To coincide with the Biotech '85 exhibition in Washington in October the Invest in Britain Bureau organised a successful seminar "Biotechnology—the national habitat" attended by more than 20 corporate executives and representatives of the two trade associations covering this sector of the pharmaceutical industry.
As a result of the Government's earlier efforts to encourage United States pharmaceutical investment, Damon Biotech announced recently that it intended to set up a £30 million biotechnology manufacturing facility in Livingston, Scotland to provide 300 jobs over the next four years.