Boeing is not afraid of Brexit.
The world’s largest aerospace company said it will create 2,000 new jobs and expand its research operation in the U.K., as part of a new deal with the British government.
In return, the government agreed to buy nine new Boeing P8 maritime patrol aircraft and help the company build a new £100 million ($130 million) training and support facilities at RAF base in Lossiemouth in Scotland.
The government did not reveal the cost of the deal, but said developing of maritime patrol aircraft, including infrastructure and training, would cost £3 billion ($3.9 billion) over the next decade. The investment is also part of the country’s pledge to meet NATO’s funding requirements.
The deal was announced Monday at the Farnborough International Airshow in England.
The U.K. government is keen to calm investors after the country voted to leave the European Union last month.
“We aren’t just open for investment; we are a place the global aerospace industry wants to do business — as Boeing’s long term partnership with the U.K. proves,” said Prime Minister David Cameron, who announced Monday that he will leave office on Wednesday.
Boeing has already doubled its U.K. workforce and more than doubled its annual spending with the U.K. supply chain over the last five years, to more than 2,000 people and £1.8 billion ($2.3 billion) in 2015.
The new jobs will mean Boeing will double the number of its U.K. staff again, to 4,000 in total.
Boeing is one of many American companies with big business interests in the U.K. Around 30% of sales made by American companies in Europe are made in the U.K.
American companies are by far the biggest source of foreign investment in the U.K., where they and their affiliates employ 1.2 million workers.
The vote to leave the EU has sparked a market turmoil and left foreign investors on the edge. Many foreign companies use the U.K. as the base for doing business throughout Europe.
But dropping out of the union, the so-called Brexit, could put this at risk as companies might have to establish bases elsewhere in Europe, in addition to the U.K., to continue operating across the EU.
The U.K. Chancellor George Osborne is in the U.S. this week, meeting with senior Wall Street executives. He said Brexit presents a golden opportunity for stronger ties between the U.S. and Britain.