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CBI demands improvements to UK broadband
Faster broadband is needed to encourage foreign investment, the business organisation has said.
Private sector cash has an important part to play in helping the economy cope with constrained public and consumer spending, according to the CBI.
However, the body has warned the UK's reputation as a sensible place for international firms to spend their money could be under threat following the recession.
Foreign investment fell from 6.4 billion (£112.9 billion) in 2007 to just .7 billion in 2009 as a result of the global economic crisis.
In a bid to kick start the flow of capital to the UK from overseas sources, the CBI has utilised research from 400 companies to identify the prime factors that are driving and blocking potential ventures.
The organisation called for market activity to be stimulated by improving high-speed broadband availability and cutting some of the red tape affecting businesses.
Bidding processes for public procurement programmes should be simplified and opened up to wider economic value and innovation, it claimed.
Other recommendations include a long-term reduction in corporation tax to 18 per cent, along with more competitive rates on employment, fuel and other expenses.
John Cridland, director general of the CBI, said the UK should have the fastest broadband in Europe in 20 years' time.
Under the government's own plans, Britain will get access to the best super-fast internet service in Europe by 2015, thanks to £830 million of public spending.
However, the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition has yet to specify what "best" actually means.
"It is worrying how many business leaders are telling us that the UK no longer holds the same attraction it once did and are questioning whether they need to be here at all," Mr Cridland commented.
"With competition for international capital so fierce, the government must play up our strengths and remove the stumbling blocks to investment."