新湖畔网 （随信APP) | 斯塔默承诺减少繁文缛节，呼吁外国投资者支持英国

斯塔默告诉国际投资者，他将大幅削减官僚主义 - 版权AFP Hector RETAMAL

Peter HUTCHISON

英国首相基尔·斯塔默周一告诉全球商业领袖，现在是“支持英国”的时候，他主持了一场旨在获得急需资金以推动经济增长的主要峰会，此前脱欧后混乱。

斯塔默告诉工业巨头，他最近当选的工党政府将“消除阻碍投资的官僚主义”，并承诺大幅减少繁文缛节。

首相——要在支持商业的同时也支持工人，为员工制定一系列新的工作保障措施——对伦敦的国际投资峰会非常重视。

他希望数十亿英镑（美元）的外国投资宣布将掩盖其混乱的筹备过程。

斯塔默在七月的选举中赢得压倒性多数，但随后政府的受欢迎程度急剧下降，最近的YouGov民意调查显示只有18%的公众对其表现表示赞同。

首相说，他的重点不是“新闻报道的日子或小时”，而是他的选举授权为实现他的主要使命——促进英国经济增长带来的“黄金机会”。

“私人部门投资是重建我们国家和在世界上发挥作用的方式。毫无疑问，现在是支持英国的绝佳时刻，”斯塔默说。

他承诺，目前阻止我们建造住房、数据中心、仓库、电网连接器、道路、铁路等任何设施的监管，“我保证——我们将消除它”。

“我们将消除阻碍投资的官僚主义，”他补充说，并承诺他的政府“将确保该国的每位监管者”像这个房间一样重视增长。

斯塔默表示，他“决心修复英国作为一个开放、向外看的、自信的贸易国家的形象”。

部长们将宣布价值数十亿英镑的人工智能、生命科学和基础设施重大投资协议，已经公布了240亿英镑（314亿美元）的绿色能源项目，其中包括西班牙巨头伊比利亚公司的120亿英镑和丹麦公司Orsted的80亿英镑。

– P&O之争 –

峰会的筹备过程被主办的批评、未能吸引顶尖名流以及与航运公司P&O的迪拜所有者DP World之间的争端控制。这使得一项价值10亿英镑的投资项目岌岌可危。

DP World主席苏丹·艾哈迈德·本·苏莱曼威胁不参加峰会，因为交通部长路易斯·海与副首相安吉拉·雷纳称P&O的雇佣实践“不道德”和“剥削性”。

英国政府进行了最后的谈判，DP World透露P&O扩建伦敦集装箱港口的投资将继续进行。

尽管预计将有约200名私营部门高管出席，但许多跨国企业老板和科技巨头决定放弃。即使有机会在周一晚上的闭幕招待会上与英国国王查尔斯三世会晤，他们也没有被吸引。

《金融时报》在一定程度上将峰会参会者的不足归因于对其“质量和组织”引起的担忧。

事件前五天，开始时间和地点仍未确认。

据商业日报称，两家外国公司寻求紧急信息时据说收到了主办方的“外出办公”消息，感到惊讶。

然后，主办方意外地将高度机密的客户名单通过电子邮件发送给了所有确认的参与者，没有隐藏他们的地址。

峰会的时间安排——在工党上台100天后的两天——也引起了不安。

两周后，财政部长瑞秋·里夫斯将公布工党的第一份预算案，企业正在做好可能的资本增值税上涨的准备。

Starmer told international investors that he would slash bureaucracy - Copyright AFP Hector RETAMAL

Peter HUTCHISON

Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday told global business leaders it was “time to back Britain”, as he hosted a major summit aimed at securing much-needed funds to fuel economic growth after post-Brexit chaos.

Starmer told captains of industry that his recently elected Labour government would “rip out the bureaucracy that blocks investment” and pledged to slash red tape.

The premier — treading a tricky path to be both pro-business and also pro-worker, with a series of new workplace safeguards for employees — has placed great importance on the International Investment Summit in London.

He is hoping that the announcement of billions of pounds (dollars) of foreign investment in UK projects will overshadow its chaotic build-up.

Starmer won a thumping majority in July’s election but has seen his government’s popularity plummet following a series of missteps, with a recent YouGov poll showing only 18 percent of the public approved of its performance.

The prime minister said his focus is “not the days or hours of the news grid” but on the “golden opportunity” that his electoral mandate presents for delivering his central mission of growing the UK economy.

“Private sector investment is the way we rebuild our country and pay our way in the world. Make no mistake, this is a great moment to back Britain,” Starmer said.

He promised that where regulation is currently “stopping us building the homes, the data centres, warehouses, grid connectors, roads, train lines, you name it, then mark my words –- we will get rid of it”.

“We will rip out the bureaucracy that blocks investment,” he added, promising that his administration “will make sure that every regulator in this country” takes growth “as seriously as this room does”.

Starmer said he was “determined to repair Britain’s brand as an open, outward-looking, confident trading nation”.

Ministers are set to announce billions worth of major investment deals in AI, life sciences and infrastructure, having already unveiled £24 billion pounds ($31.4 billion) in green energy projects, including £12 billion by Spanish giant Iberdrola and £8.0 billion by Danish firm Orsted.

– P&O row –

The build-up to the summit was dominated by criticism over its organization, a failure to attract top names and a row involving shipping company P&O’s Dubai owners DP World that put a £1 billion investment project in jeopardy.

Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the chairman DP World, threatened not to attend the summit after transport minister Louise Haigh and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner called P&O’s employment practices “unscrupulous” and “exploitative”.

Last-ditch talks with the UK government ensued and DP World revealed that the P&O investment to expand a London container port would go ahead.

While around 200 private sector executives were expected to attend, many multinational bosses and tech titans decided to give it a miss.

Even the opportunity to meet Britain’s head of state King Charles III at the closing reception on Monday evening failed to entice them.

The Financial Times partly attributed the summit’s poor turnout to concerns over its “quality and organization”.

Five days before the event, the start time and venue had still not been confirmed.

Two foreign companies seeking urgent information were reportedly astonished to receive an “out-of-office” message from the organizers, the business daily said.

Then the highly secret guest list was revealed by mistake when the organizers sent an email to all confirmed participants without hiding their addresses.

The timing of the summit — two days after Labour clocked its 100th day in office — has also caused unease.

In two weeks’ time finance minister Rachel Reeves delivers Labour’s first budget, when businesses are steeling themselves for a possible rise in capital gains tax.