President Barack Obama is to tout investment opportunities on Thursday when he announces Washington is expanding its efforts to entice foreign firms to bring jobs to the United States, administration officials said.

Officials said the United States would start to coordinate efforts at the federal level to attract investment in a way it has not before. Until now, states and cities have been responsible for making pitches for business from abroad.

"It's not a level playing field for a mayor of one of our cities to have to compete against the prime minister or head of state of a major industrial power," White House National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling told reporters.

Obama is due to make the announcement in a speech to a SelectUSA investment conference with business representatives from around the world, officials said. to attract investment

The efforts to attract investment would start to mimic the more coordinated export promotion initiatives that government officials have focused on in the past, the officials added.

"The factors driving U.S. investment are so positive that some independent analysts now rank the United States as the number one location where CEOs can be confident to invest," Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker told reporters.

The president is due to pledge that top administration officials will now advocate greater coordination in locating production and investment in the United States, the officials said.