Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced private sector investment of 29.5 billion pounds ($36.8 billion) in Britain, before hosting international executives in his bid to return the country to a top foreign direct investment (FDI) destination in Europe.

After the government last week offered permanent tax breaks for companies to modernize their factories and machinery, Sunak hopes his appeal to foreign investors will help jump-start Britain’s moribund economy.

Australian funds IFM Investors and Aware Super will pump £10 billion and £5 billion respectively into projects ranging from infrastructure and the energy transition to affordable housing, Sunak’s Downing Street office said in a statement.

Spanish energy giant Iberdrola added £7 billion to its investment plans in the UK, which include electricity transmission and distribution networks.

Other projects mentioned in the statement include a £2.5 billion investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure by Microsoft.

“Attracting global investment is at the heart of my plan to grow the economy,” Sunak said in a statement published ahead of his investment “summit” on Monday at London’s 16th-century Hampton Court palace.

The UK, like many other countries, is seeking private sector investment to help reset the economy towards a net-zero era and build infrastructure that overstretched public finances cannot finance alone.

But some big investors say the political and regulatory uncertainty caused by the 2016 Brexit referendum has reduced Britain’s attractiveness in recent years, while other countries have made themselves more attractive to foreign direct investment.

France has surpassed the UK as the European country with the largest number of new FDI projects. President Emmanuel Macron announced investment commitments of 13 billion euros ($14.18 billion) in France at a similar FDI summit in May.

Sunak said new funding for sectors such as clean energy, life sciences and advanced technology would create high-quality jobs across the UK.

Prominent financiers Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone, David Solomon of Goldman Sachs, Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan Chase and Amanda Blanc of Aviva are expected to attend the event on Monday.

The UK government is realizing it must do more to compete, according to a study launched after the country lost a number of key investments.

ENGLISH LEGGINGS

Britain now lags behind France and Germany in terms of attractiveness for foreign direct investment, according to accounting firm EY.

But the country has had some recent successes, including the announcement on Friday that Nissan will produce electric cars in the north east of England.

“Even though many people refuse, people actually want to invest in the UK,” Trade Minister Kemi Badenoch told LBC radio.

“They believe that this is a place where they can put their money and will make a good investment, while helping us develop our economy and providing the jobs and wages that people in the United Kingdom need.”

The UK plans to set up a concierge service to help potential investors deal with the government.

“When a company comes to the British government, they don’t want to deal with five different departments. They want to deal with one person,” Investment Secretary Dominic Johnson told Reuters ahead of an event at Hampton Court on Monday.

This would allow ministers to have “very robust and honest discussions with the international investment community about how we can make the environment more viable for investment,” he said.

IFM’s UK investment plan of £10 billion is an increase from last year’s initial announcement of £3 billion, while all other projects announced by the government are new, a government official said.

King Charles is scheduled to host a reception at Buckingham Palace on Monday evening for attendees of Monday’s meeting. ($1 = 0.8025 pounds) ($1 = 0.9168 euros) (Writing by William Schomberg and Alistair Smout, Editing by Louise Heavens)