Japanese investment of more than U.S. $ 22 billion in the U.K. will include funding for offshore wind power and other clean energy projects
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (U.K.) – Rishi Sunak today, i.e., Thursday, May 18, 2023 announced Japanese investment of more than U.S. $ 22 billion in the U.K., including funding for offshore wind power and other clean energy projects.
Sunak arrived in Japan for the Group of Seven (G7) Leaders’ Summit in Hiroshima. He will be meeting business leaders as Britain prepares to join a transpacific trade pact which includes Japan and Australia.
Taking it to twitter, Sunak tweeted,
🇬🇧 British business🤝Japanese investment 🇯🇵
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) May 18, 2023
I'm delighted to announce a record £17.7 billion of Japanese investment into the UK, creating jobs and growing our economy.
He further tweeted,
The 🇬🇧 🇯🇵 relationship has never been stronger.
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) May 18, 2023
I am excited to be in Tokyo as we agree the UK-Japan Global Strategic Partnership, together we will:
🪖Boost cooperation between our armed forces
📈Grow our economies
🧪Develop world-leading science and technology expertise pic.twitter.com/TXOTkRnKyx
He said the investment by Japanese companies is a massive vote of confidence in the U.K. economy. The U.S. $ 22 billion investment includes planned funding of about £ 10 billion for offshore wind and hydrogen energy projects from Japanese trading house Marubeni. A leading Japanese trading house has announced its intention to sign the MoU with the Government which envisages approximately £ 10 billion of investment in the U.K. with its partners over the next 10 years, including offshore wind projects in Scotland and green hydrogen projects in Wales and Scotland.
Mitsubishi Estate and Mitsui Fudosan, two of the largest real estate companies in Japan, have also confirmed plans to invest £ 3.5 billion in the U.K. The planned projects will build affordable housing, high quality office space and life-science laboratory in London, which will support thousands of jobs and help to revitalise areas of the capital.
Sumitomo Corporation intends to expand its U.K. offshore wind projects, leading to a total investment of £ 4 billion in projects off the coasts of Suffolk and Norfolk alongside its partners. Sumitomo Electric Industries has also announced its decision to build a strategically important high-voltage cable manufacturing plant in the Scottish Highlands, bringing more than £ 200 million in investment and creating 150 highly-skilled green jobs. This investment will help the U.K. build resilient supply chains for critical infrastructure such as offshore wind projects and support U.K. developers to enhance their contribution to U.K. growth.
Besides, Toshiba will be expanding operations at their Cambridge Laboratory, which is designing and delivering advanced quantum-safe cryptographic communication solutions. It will be creating more than 30 new jobs initially and investing in excess of £ 20 million in new technology development.
Sunak said the deals showed the fruits of post-Brexit Britain becoming the first non-regional economy to accede to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
Japan is the U.K.’s 5th largest investor with £ 92 billion of investment in the country. Last year, the trade in goods and services between the U.K. and Japan was worth £ 27.7 billion.
