Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mark Garnier and Ranil Jayawardena

Thursday 9th February 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Ranil Jayawardena (North East Hampshire) (Con)]

3. What steps his Department is taking to support trade and investment in the space exploration sector.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Trade (Mark Garnier)]

The Department for International Trade supports efforts to grow the UK space sector. We are working closely with the UK Space Agency, Innovate UK and the industry to provide sector growth. In January, I led a DIT and UK Space Agency mission to the US, where I advocated the UK as an attractive market for space sector companies. We intend to highlight progress at the UK space conference in Manchester in May. UK Export Finance offers finance and insurance to help UK-based companies in the space sector.

[Mr Jayawardena]

It is really great to hear that the UK is fast becoming a world leader in the space sector. Will my hon. Friend inform the House about his efforts to secure foreign direct investment into the United Kingdom to support domestic growth in this industry?

[Mark Garnier]

My hon. Friend is right to raise the importance of this sector. The numbers are absolutely fantastic: it has six times the average research and development investment, and it has 2.7 times the average productivity in the UK. During the past couple of years, the DIT has supported 19 successful inward investment projects in this sector, and we will continue to work with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to deliver the UK space innovation and growth strategy in the future.