Infrastructure issues 'to reduce competitiveness'

News Article - Thursday, May 17, 2007

filed under: Business

The UK could lose its competitiveness if the government fails to tackle infrastructure issues, one organisation has claimed.

According to the Confederation of British Industry, more spending is required in areas such as energy and transport networks if the country is to remain competitive.

In a speech to the chancellor on Tuesday, CBI president Martin Broughton said: "The bottom line is that we invest less in our infrastructure than any other major European economy."

"What assets we do have are contracting, or deteriorating, or both."

He also called for a partnership between business and government, stating that everybody was "on the same side".

But he added that the CBI recognised that the government needed to strike a balance between national and local interests.

The Swiss-based IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2007 recently placed the UK in 20th place with regard to its competitiveness.

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