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Minister for Trade, Investment and Foreign Affairs
The common ties that bind
Ian Pearson MP, Minister for Trade, Investment and Foreign Affairs, explains why the common language, culture and values shared by the US and UK add up to the world’s strongest business relationship
Ian Pearson MP
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Undoubtedly, the trade and investment relationship between the UK and US is one of the strongest in the world. We are major trading partners in both goods and services and we are the largest investors in each other’s economies, with UK firms investing £144bn ($251bn) in the US and US companies returning the favour to the tune of £173bn ($302bn).
When you consider the ties our two countries have through language, history, culture and shared values, it is clear that together our countries have a truly great partnership.

The UK’s attractions as an inward investment location are already well understood – as the 531 US businesses who set up new operations or expanded existing ones in the UK in 2004/05 can no doubt testify.
In the UK, we have a flexible, highly-skilled workforce, world-class managers and business leaders, brilliant designers and business-focused scientists working at the cutting edge of research and development. Combined with a light regulatory touch, this makes the UK the number one inward investment location in Europe for the world’s top companies.

These strengths make a compelling case for the UK as an inward investment location – one that is particularly suited to knowledge-based industries. That’s why we now see companies in the research and development, headquarters operations, software, electronics, pharmaceuticals, financial services and telecommunications sectors all setting up shop in the UK.
Being a key player within Europe is, of course, another key attraction for investors. From a base in the UK, inward investors can now reach more than 450 million people in the expanded European Union.

As a government, we know that a strong transatlantic relationship is as important for the future prosperity of Europe as a whole as it is for Britain. That’s why we work with partners on both sides of the Atlantic to help break down barriers to trade so that we can all benefit from increased economic activity. We can be justifiably proud of the close economic relationship that our two countries share and have benefited from greatly over many years.

With the help of BritishAmerican Business and my colleagues within UK Trade & Investment, I will strive to make that relationship even stronger in the coming years.

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