【双语新闻】Brown to focus on London's position

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　　2006年3月21日 星期二

　　英国财相拟提升伦敦金融中心地位Brown to focus on London‘s position

　　英国财政大臣戈登。布朗（Gordon Brown）将于明日宣布一项新举措，提升伦敦作为全球主要金融中心之一的地位。他将承认英国政府必须采取更多措施，来保护这一英国主要的经济支柱之一。


　　Gordon Brown， UK chancellor of the exchequer， will tomorrow unveil a new drive to expand London‘s position as one of the world’s leading financial centres， conceding that the government must do much more to preserve one of the main pillars of the British economy.

　　在布朗即将宣布的预算案中，中心议题将是促进英国高附加值产业的发展。这将是中间偏左的工党（Labour party） 自1997年执政以来，这位英国财政大臣为取悦伦敦金融城而准备出台的最全面的措施。

　　Announcing a budget that will have the promotion of the UK‘s high value added industries as its central theme， the British finance minister looks set to launch his most concerted campaign to woo the City since the left-of-centre Labour party came to power in 1997.

　　在布朗担任财政大臣的近10年中，他曾多次寻求保护伦敦金融城作为全球顶级金融中心的地位，其中最著名的是他反对欧盟（EU）对债券征收预扣税的计划。

　　In nearly a decade as chancellor， Mr Brown has sought to protect the City‘s status as one of the world’s top financial centres， most notably facing down plans for a European Union withholding tax on bonds.

　　但布朗已向金融城的大人物们表示，政府必须与伦敦主要金融机构进行更为密切的合作，以维护伦敦的地位。因此，他承诺将认真听取意见，确保伦敦拥有合理的税收和监管结构，以便从不断发展的中国和印度吸引业务。

　　But Mr Brown has told leading City figures that the government must work far more closely with London‘s leading institutions to preserve the capital’s status. He has therefore pledged to listen hard to concerns that London has the right tax and regulatory structures in order to attract business from the growing Chinese and Indian economies.

　　布朗将宣布，他将与金融城众多领先机构合作，包括伦敦证交所（LSE）、泛欧交易所-伦敦国际金融期货期权交易所（Euronext-Liffe）和伦敦投资银行协会（London Investment Banking Asociation）等，为金融城“制订并支持实施一项协同战略”。

　　Mr Brown will announce that he is bringing together a number of leading City institutions – such as the London Stock Exchange， Euronext-Liffe and the London Investment Banking Association –to “develop and support a co-ordinated strategy” for the City.

　　布朗将就伦敦面临的挑战，发表一份由英国财政部官员编写的详尽分析报告，指出金融城不能满足于现状。

　　The chancellor will publish a detailed analysis by Treasury officials of the challenges facing London， arguing that the City cannot be complacent.

　　布朗新举措的核心内容是对英国贸易及投资署（UK Trade & Investment）进行全面改革，使其更加关注与中国和印度的贸易关系。英国贸易及投资署是英国政府的出口促进机构。

　　At the heart of this drive will be an overhaul of UK Trade and Investment， the government‘s export promotion body， so that it focuses more heavily on trade links with India and China.

　　金融城的大人物一直对一系列问题表示担忧，包括财政部对所有股票交易征收0.5%印花税的问题。这项税收每年为政府带来20亿英镑（35亿美元）收入。

　　Leading City figures have been concerned by a range of issues， including the Treasury‘s 0.5 per cent stamp duty on all share transactions， yielding the government ￡2bn （$3.5bn， ?2.9bn） a year.