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The former boss of Google is set to join Prime Minister Keir Starmer at his inaugural International Investment Summit, aimed at flaunting the UK as “open for business” and primed for investment.
Scheduled for 14 October, the event will bring together 300 global business leaders to hear how the government plans to attract future investment and stimulate economic growth.
The summit will kick off with a headline discussion between Starmer and Eric Schmidt, former chief of Google, moderated by Dame Emma Walmsley, chief executive of GSK. Schmidt served as the CEO of Google from 2001 to 2011 and as the tech giant’s executive chairman from 2011 to 2015.
Other high-profile panellists include Blackrock boss Larry Fink, Octopus Energy chief Greg Jackson, Vodafone chief Margherita Della Valle, and Alphabet and Google president Ruth Porat, and tech darling Wayve’s Alex Kendall.
Throughout the day, sessions will focus on areas such as upgrading the UK’s critical infrastructure, growing the health tech ecosystem, decarbonising the national grid by 2030, and scaling British founders. A workshop on pensions reform also features on the agenda.
Business and trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds is expected to curry favour with investors via a new “level-headed approach” designed to present the UK as a mature and reliable trading partner.
“The chaos of the last 14 years is no more,” Reynolds said. “Britain is open for business, and we are the investment destination of choice.”
However, some may remain sceptical about the impact of the investment summit. Taking place just two weeks ahead of Rachel Reeves’ first Budget as Chancellor, many attendees are likely to focus more keenly on the corporate and personal tax policies set to be revealed at the end of the month.
It also comes amid reports of disorganised planning, with weeks of uncertainty over a central London venue and concerns that attracting 300 delegates to the event would be tricky.
One City figure likened Labour’s preparations for the summit to “being invited to an important birthday party and arriving all dressed up, only to find the venue hasn’t been booked and the host can’t be bothered to make an appearance.”
Reeves, who will also deliver a keynote address, said the summit “will showcase Britain is back as a stable place to do business, helping to secure the private investment needed to make every part of our country better off.”
Meanwhile, Elon Musk hit back after reportedly being snubbed from the summit’s invite list due to his social media activity posts during the summer riots.
He said on X: “I don’t think anyone should go to the UK when they’re releasing convicted pedophiles in order to imprison people for social media posts.”