Britain unveils plan to make its Midlands engine for economic growth

LONDON, March 9 (Xinhua) -- A multi-billion dollar strategy was unveiled Thursday to transform the region around Britain's second biggest city, Birmingham, into an engine for economic growth.

The so-called Midlands Engine Strategy includes significant investment in skills, connectivity and local growth, while it sets out how the government plans to drive the huge potential of the English Midlands region and promote it to the world.

The strategy sets out how the government will invest almost 500 million U.S. dollars in the Midlands to support innovative projects, as well as seeing millions of dollars spent on transport improvements.

It will also see support for an innovative project to create a global hub for space technology in Leicester.

"The Midlands has enormous economic potential, and as we lay the foundations of a stronger, fairer Britain outside the European Union, it is more important than ever that we now build on its existing strengths to make sure it fulfils it," said Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond when he visited and published the new strategy in the Midlands region Thursday.

"The strategy is an important milestone, setting out the concrete actions we are taking, where we are not only investing in what it does well but also tackling some of the long-standing productivity barriers in the region, including skills and connectivity," added Hammond.

In May this year, Birmingham and the wider West Midlands will become one of the regions to elect its first directly elected mayor able to use powers over skills, transport and planning to drive local growth. And Britain's biggest rail project, HS2, places the Midlands at the heart of the country's high speed rail network.

A government spokesman said in a statement that "today's announcements are all part of plans to make the Midlands an engine for economic growth for the whole country."

"The Midlands already has huge economic potential -- home to more than ten million people with an economy worth 217.7 billion pounds (265 billion U.S. dollars), representing 13 percent of the UK's annual output. There are huge opportunities to build on this," said the spokesman.