INVESTMENT projects in the Oxford-Cambridge arc which the Government hopes will drive billions of pounds into the region will go to the biggest property fair in the world next year.

Simon Sweetinburgh, regional manager for capital projects at the Department for International Trade, said Oxford is ‘a fantastic brand already’ for overseas investors.

He added Brexit is unlikely to mean international investment falls across Oxfordshire and the wider region in coming years.

Mr Sweetinburgh told a conference in Oxford that the DIT will take projects to a leading investment fair in France next year – but did not reveal which specific projects it will seek money for.

He said: “We’re producing a portfolio of Oxford-Cambridge arc projects and we’re currently assessing a number.

“It’s not too late for projects to come into this portfolio. It will be soon though because we’re going to launch it at MIPIM in Cannes in March, which is still the most important conference for development and investment.”

About 24,000 people attended MIPIM last March.

Controversial growth across Oxfordshire could see 300,000 new homes built in the county before 2050, along with new major employments centres. Many are likely to be connected to Oxford University.

Last year, the Government-appointed National Infrastructure Commission said the building is critical if the region is to meet its economic potential. The Government and the NIC want one million new homes built between Oxford and Cambridge by 2050.

Some opponents have said the development is simply a plan to make up investment that could be lost through Brexit, while others are worried about overdevelopment.

In October, the DIT said it wanted to drive foreign investment into seven projects – but did not include any within the Oxford-Cambridge arc.

They include proposals for 2,000 new homes and 1,000 new jobs in Festival Park in Liverpool; another 5,000 jobs at a new logistics and distribution centre in Gateshead, and a new key life sciences centre in Edinburgh.

At the time, Liam Fox, the international trade secretary said: “It has never been easier to find opportunities for global investment in the UK and these seven projects worth £2bn give investors the opportunity to do just that.”

In the first half of 2017, 14 per cent of global commercial property investment deals were based in the UK, second only to the United States, according to the DIT.