Develop and deliver a comprehensive foreign direct investment strategy for R&D

The UK needs to act as a competitor in a global R&D and innovation market. The Government should develop and delivers a comprehensive foreign direct investment strategy for R&D.

To attract global R&D investment, the UK not only needs attractive framework conditions but also needs to promote and constantly evaluate the attractiveness of its offer. The UK must start behaving as a competitor in the global market for R&D investment to retain existing business investment and attract higher levels of globally mobile business research.

FDI in R&D strategy

The Government should develop a foreign direct investment in R&D strategy to retain and attract a higher level of globally mobile business investment to R&D in the UK. The Government, through UKRI, the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), Home Office, Treasury and the Department for International Trade (DIT), should develop a foreign direct investment in R&D strategy to retain and attract a higher level of globally mobile business investment in R&D to the UK.

Global Collaboration Fund

UKRI should create a Global Collaboration Fund to encourage universities and businesses to pool their strengths to attract inward investment. Building on the concept of the Connecting Capability Fund, UKRI should develop a Global Collaboration Fund that encourages universities to collaborate and pool their strengths to attract investment from businesses in the UK and overseas. Aligned to the foreign direct investment in R&D strategy, the Global Collaboration Fund would be a focused mechanism to encourage groups of universities to form consortia and create a joined-up, cohesive offer that would be attractive to mobile international R&D funding.