The UK faces “a careful balancing act between our freedoms, our prosperity and our security”, Dowden will say.
But while ‘we will not decouple ourselves from the global economy’, the UK ‘must take risks’ by tightening controls on exports and overseas investment flows that could fund rivals’ technology strategic ones such as China, he will add.
The UK “needs to be mindful” of overseas investments “that are used to facilitate, support and assist the strategic uprising of adversaries,” Dowden told POLITICO ahead of the speech.
But he added that when it comes to overseas investment, “for me the bar is high for imposing any form of restrictions.”
Although the UK’s historic openness constitutes a strength, “we must be aware that one of the great strengths of our system (…) also brings with it vulnerabilities”, Dowden will say.
Tightening
The British measures come after Biden signed an executive order last August limiting overseas investment in strategic sectors such as semiconductors, AI and quantum.
Politices
