President Barack Obama’s first state visit to the United Kingdom this week comes against the backdrop of a challenging and rapidly changing world. In addition to the turbulent rise of democracies in the Middle East, countries on both sides of the Atlantic are continuing to make the tough choices about how to grow our way out of the global recession.
The emergence of China, India, and other new markets for goods and services has drawn a great deal of attention recently. And when American businesses and workers consider the path to economic recovery, they of course look to the huge opportunities offered by emerging new markets. But first and foremost they look to those with the biggest stake in today’s American prosperity.
The United Kingdom remains the U.S.’ largest investor (as you are ours), sustaining a million jobs on both sides of the Atlantic. That investment is several hundred times the level of China’s. When we look to educate and innovate to support future economic growth, the strongest partnerships remain between America and Europe — the U.K. and the U.S. between them do half of all world science, and share all of the world’s top 10 universities.
The strong trade and economic relationship between the U.S. and U.K. holds true here in Georgia as well. Last year’s trade in goods between the U.K. and Georgia was nearly $3.4 billion. Almost 30,000 people work for the 565 U.K.-based companies in Georgia, making the United Kingdom the largest employer in the Peach State. In return, more than 100 companies based in Georgia have operations in the U.K.
Those lines of trade and investment are going to be made even stronger with the opening of a U.K. Trade & Investment (U.K.TI) office in Atlanta. Gov. Nathan Deal and Lord Stephen Green, the U.K. Minister of State for Trade and Investment, announced the new office while Deal was in London last week.
U.K.TI is a branch of the British government that helps U.K.-based companies succeed in international markets, and build a bridge for overseas companies to invest and do business in the U.K. The new U.K.TI staff will work from the same Peachtree Street offices in Atlanta as the Consulate-General.
The announcement about the new office came during an important and highly productive trip to the U.K. by Gov. Deal and first lady Sandra Deal, and the Commissioner of Economic Development, Chris Cummiskey, and his team. I was pleased to travel with the delegation as we toured Liverpool in the North West of the U.K., and met with industry leaders in smart grid technology and port infrastructure, as well as university and civic leaders. The Georgia-Liverpool links are long-standing but most recently have been advanced through visits lead by the University of Liverpool which has made Georgia the hub of their partnership strategy in North America for advancing their research and education goals.
Obama and Prime Minister Cameron made science, innovation and higher education a key part of their talks while the president was in London. Our countries collaborate with each other more than any other on some of the most cutting-edge research in the world. The technologies and breakthroughs that come from that kind of collaboration will spur a new era of global prosperity. Both the president and prime minister understand it, and are pushing efforts to transform our countries to enjoy a thriving, robust, 21st century economy. The Consulate General in Atlanta, and the new U.K.TI office will be fully part of these efforts as we work with Georgia’s leaders to deliver new jobs and prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic.
Annabelle Malins is the British Consul General in Atlanta.
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