US / ‘One-stop shop’ to attract foreign investment to generate jobs

The US launched a fresh effort Thursday to attract investment by foreign manufacturers and other businesses as the government seeks to pull down stubbornly high unemployment.

President Barack Obama was to address 1,200 foreign and US business leaders in Washington as the White House tries to further lower barriers to foreign investment.

White House officials said the initiative includes a cross-agency team that will constitute a “one-stop shop” to facilitate investment, as the US steps up its game to compete for jobs.

The team will involve top diplomats who will focus efforts to attract and enable investment from “priority” nations as sources of direct investment.

On the ground, the White House says it wants to help ensure companies can get the skilled labor they need in any certain location in the United States.

The primary goal, said Gene Sperling, director of the White House’s National Economic Council, “is to support job creation in the US.”

“Our competitors are organizing themselves. We either have to compete better or we’ll lose out.”

“We do not take investment in the United States for granted,” Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew told the SelectUSA 2013 Investment Summit.

“We know it is important for jobs. It is important for our businesses. And it is important for our prosperity.”

Top US officials stressed the country’s size, cheap energy, strong legal environment and huge research and development spending as attributes that make the US more competitive for manufacturing.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at 

via AFP: US pitches for foreign investment to generate jobs.