---

Northern Ireland: Inland Fisheries

The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Lord Rooker): My honourable friend the Minister of State for Northern Ireland (David Hanson) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

Copies of the inland fisheries annual report of the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure for 2003 have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
 
29 Jun 2005 : Column WS7
 

The document provides details of the department's activities to conserve, protect and develop salmon and inland fisheries under the provisions of the Fisheries Act (Northern Ireland) 1966, as amended, and includes statistical information and income and expenditure details for the 2003–04 financial year.

UK Trade and Investment: UK Inward Investment Report 2004–05

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Alan Johnson) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

With my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, I am pleased to inform the House that UK Trade and Investment announced today, at its launch of the UK inward investment 2004–05 report, that there were 1,066 direct investments in the UK by foreign owned companies between 1 April 2004 and 31 March 2005. This is an increase of 31 per cent on the year. Among
 
29 Jun 2005 : Column WS8
 
business sectors, the largest number of projects were in IT, followed by software and pharma and biotech. Total jobs figures were up 26 per cent to 75,043 of which 39,592 were new jobs (up 55 per cent on the previous year) and 35,451 safeguarded jobs (up 5 per cent on 2002–03)

This performance reflects the confidence companies around the world continue to show in the business climate in the UK. The number of new projects has increased by 49 per cent from 339 in 2003–04 to 506 in 2004–05, while mergers/acquisitions and joint ventures were up 41 per cent from 187 in 2003–04 to 264 in 20004–05. Expansions by existing investors were up 3 per cent, from 285 in 2003–04 to 296 in 2004–05.

The competition is fierce, but we will not allow our position as market leader in Europe to make us complacent. UKTI will further strengthen and sharpen its operations in priority markets and the Government will continue to ensure that the UK provides economic growth and stability and an innovative climate to attract investment.

I am arranging for a copy of the UK inward investment 2004–05 report to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

---