Knowledge industries central to UK job creation, says Mandelson

Mandelson: Where are the jobs going to come from?

Business secretary Peter Mandelson has added his voice to the growing calls for investment in creating jobs in knowledge industries such as IT and telecoms.

Speaking at the Jobs Summit in London today, Mandelson echoed calls from prime minister Gordon Brown to look to areas other than financial services to generate growth to bring the country out of recession.

"Where are the jobs going to come from? Well, I've spent the last two months arguing that above all they need to come from a renaissance in UK manufacturing and the expansion of the UK's knowledge-based industries," he said.

"We do know broadly what we will need to be good at, and that is being smarter and more innovative and creative and more flexible and adaptive and confident and entrepreneurial than the competition. Because that is where more and better jobs will come from."

Mandelson explained that the challenge is to put in place government policies that allow the private sector to create the jobs of the future.

"No one is trying to order change or run industries from Whitehall. That's not the sort of industrial activism I have in mind," he said.

"But to identify and pursue the government policies that will support the private sector and draw the benefits from markets to get the jobs of the future we want."