Today’s International Investment Summit is more than just a gathering of global business leaders and government officials – it’s a moment of significant opportunity for regions like Teesside, Darlington, and Hartlepool, writes Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen.

Over the past seven years, we’ve worked tirelessly to transform our once-industrial heartlands into a centre for the cutting-edge industries of the future, and now the fruits of that labour are evident – billions of pounds of investment and thousands of local jobs.

Nowhere is this more visible than on the Teesworks site, where international investment is pouring in at an unprecedented rate (over £6 billion to date), fuelling the area’s revival and positioning us at the forefront of the UK’s energy revolution.

Take, for example, SeAH Wind’s decision to invest £900 million in a state-of-the-art offshore wind turbine factory at Teesworks, singled out by the Government ahead of this summit. This facility, Europe’s largest, is more than just a project – it represents the beginning of generational job creation on the site, returning jobs to the communities that were badly impacted when the steelworks closed in 2015. The SeAH factory is expected to create up to 750 direct jobs and thousands more in the supply chain, building the infrastructure that will power homes and businesses across the country.

But SeAH Wind is only part of the story. Net Zero Teesside, a £4 billion carbon capture and storage (CCS) project, is another example of how Teesside is not just adapting to the demands of the 21st century but leading the charge. As the UK’s first decarbonized industrial cluster, Net Zero Teesside will not only remove millions of tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere but also safeguard over 5,500 existing jobs in our hugely important chemical sector, while creating thousands of new ones on the Teesworks site. These projects, along with others that have already been announced, are reshaping our region’s economy, and reaffirming our position as an essential asset in the UK’s industrial aspirations.

The ripple effect of this investment is profound – providing a boost to everything from our airport, which is seeing significant investment, to our amazing town centres. Take Darlington, for example: the Treasury’s new northern economic campus is already fostering closer relationships between local businesses and government. This is bringing decision-making closer to the people most affected by it and has the potential to drive even more regional investment. Better still, this is bringing 2,100 jobs to the centre of Darlington, ensuring our town centre businesses also feel the full benefit of the investment we are attracting.

However, while we celebrate these successes, the journey is far from over. To sustain this momentum, the Government needs to take bold steps to ensure regions like ours remain attractive to investors. First and foremost, we need further reform of planning processes. All too often, large-scale infrastructure projects are hampered by delays and red tape. Speeding up planning approval processes for energy and infrastructure developments is crucial to attracting more private investment and ensuring the UK stays competitive on a global stage.

Beyond that, the Government must also ensure that the skills pipeline is ready to meet the growing demand for jobs. I have always been clear that attracting investment and jobs was the first phase of the plan, but we will only succeed if local people feel the benefit. This means further investment and more devolved powers in education so that we can provide training schemes tailored to the jobs we are creating. By ensuring the next generation is equipped with the skills needed for these roles, we can build a long-term future for the region, where the next generation can take full advantage of the opportunities at their front door – staying local but going far.

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Our renaissance is proof that with the right investment, vision, and government support, former industrial heartlands can reinvent themselves and become tomorrow’s solution rather than yesterday’s problem.

Here in Teesside, Darlington, and Hartlepool, with the investment we are seeing, we are creating an opportunity similar in scale only to the one brought by ICI.

I hope to continue working constructively with this Government to bring even more investment to our area. The Government has set out its mission to grow our economy, and it is indisputably clear that Teesside can play a pivotal role in helping them achieve this.