LONDON - Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty left his province's current economic woes back home when he pitched investment opportunities to a business crowd in central London on Monday.

In a lively speech to about 200 at the Canadian-U.K. Chamber of Commerce, McGuinty put the spotlight on what he considered Ontario's strengths: the birthplace of RIM's globally popular BlackBerry; a centre for biotechnology and medical research; and the province with the highest percentage of people with post-secondary degrees in the western world.

"We're sending a strong signal to industry and investors that are looking to do business,'' McGuinty told the crowd at the Renaissance Chancery Hotel in High Holborn.

"Our people have the skills and ideas to succeed in the 21st century global economy _ and companies around the world are choosing Ontario.''

That includes the United Kingdom where Ontario exported $7.4 billion worth of goods last year while importing less than half of that _ $3.5 billion in British imports into Ontario.

There was little in the speech, however, about the current woes of the Ontario auto industry, a topic not addressed until reporters asked the premier about his trip later this week to Turin, Italy, to meet Fiat bosses.

McGuinty said Ontario is responding to what has heard was Fiat's "high-level interest'' in a new North American assembly plant.

"I know there is lots of competition and so we're going to go there and give it our best shot,'' he said.

Rising fuel prices and a high Canadian dollar continue to batter the domestic auto manufacturing industry, with General Motors recently announcing massive layoffs and cuts across Ontario, including the closure of a Windsor transmission plant by mid-2010 affecting 1,400 workers.

McGuinty and Ottawa have also engaged in a public dispute over how to best handle the manufacturing slump.

The premier wants Ottawa to help in giving handouts to automakers in return for commitments to build new or retain existing facilities in Canada.

Ottawa insists the best approach is to create a low tax environment that will allow all businesses to flourish.

But McGuinty said his business case for attracting the overseas auto industry is boosted by Ontario having the only plant outside Japan for building Toyota's Lexus. As well, he said, GM has picked Ontario to build it's first ever hybrid truck in North America.

McGuinty's address to the chamber luncheon was the centrepiece of his two-day visit to London, which included a visit to the stock exchange and an address at the London School of Economics.

On Tuesday, McGuinty will take part in a science roundtable on the growth of Ontario's biotechnology sector before leaving for Turin.