Hunt hypes up UK’s future as ‘world’s subsequent Silicon Valley’

Jeremy Hunt has talked up Britain’s prospects of turning into the “world’s subsequent Silicon Valley” in a summit with artistic industries leaders.

The Chancellor has mentioned the Prime Minister’s ambition for the UK to turn into a “science and know-how superpower” is vital to the nation’s future.

Talking at a Treasury Join occasion in a sequence of presidency enterprise conferences, Hunt instructed artistic trade bosses “the largest alternative for the UK going ahead is to be the world’s subsequent Silicon Valley”.

“We now have the substances to do one thing exceptional,” he mentioned.

‘Distinctive mixture’

“We don’t simply have the creativity, the entrepreneurs, the superb companies, however we’ve got the world’s second largest monetary sector to assist these companies develop and we’ve got one of many world’s most revered increased schooling sector’s to offer the analysis and growth heft to take a seat behind it,” he continued.

“It’s a singular mixture, it’s the mix Silicon Valley itself had. However there aren’t very many different locations on the earth which have that mixture.”

And Hunt highlighted the necessity for artistic industries on the forefront of tech growth, saying: “Expertise wants creativity and creativity wants know-how.

“All of your companies have been fully remodeled by tech during the last decade however really the tech trade wants the creativity that’s the start line of all of your companies.”

‘Not there but’

Nevertheless, he harassed that the UK was nonetheless a way off reaching tech superpower standing.

“We’re not there by a really great distance however within the final 10 years we’ve got turn into Europe’s largest tech centre, with the third largest sector on the earth after the US and China,” he mentioned. “[We’ve become] Europe’s largest life sciences sector, Europe’s second largest renewable sector and largest in terms of offshore wind.”

His feedback come after Rishi Sunak and science, innovation and know-how secretary Michelle Donelan unveiled the Science and Expertise Framework in March.

Ministers wish to cement the UK as a tech superpower by 2030 and have pledged £370m to spice up funding in innovation, convey world expertise to the UK and fund cutting-edge AI analysis.