HAMPSHIRE and the Isle of Wight is to become one of the top 20 fastest growing regional economies in Europe, according to experts.
The area is already ranked at number 30 in a table of regions with the fastest growing wealth and is to climb to 16th place by 2009 says information services company Experian.
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxford, together, are forecast to top the EU table for fastest regional growth by the same date.
Nationally, the UK is expected to remain among the fastest growing economies in Western Europe and is forecast to have 17 per cent of the region's gross domestic product by 2014.
The news coincides with an announcement from the Confederation of British Industry that the manufacturing recovery is on track.
The report shows that in the south-west orders are up, confidence is up and that is spurring employment.
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