Patrick Hurley has asked the Business Secretary to consider a target of one million new manufacturing jobs over the next decade.
He argued that stronger manufacturing capacity was needed to ensure growth in gross domestic product was matched by growth in employment.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said reindustrialisation was an essential part of the Government's programme and agreed to examine Hurley's proposed target.
Reynolds pointed to the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme, which is due to reduce electricity costs for more than 10,000 manufacturers.
He said a manufacturing-jobs target would need to sit within a wider assessment of investment, innovation, energy costs and the contribution of service industries.
The exchange does not establish a government target. It places a quantified proposal into the developing industrial-strategy debate for ministers to consider..
