Member Article

Liverpool delegation takes IFB message to Far East

Liverpool representatives have travelled to the Far East this week to showcase next summer’s International Festival for Business (IFB) at a series of special events and meetings with some of the country’s senior figures.

Cllr Nick Small, the Liverpool City Council Cabinet Member for Employment, Enterprise and Skills, was a key note speaker at the China Britain Business Council’s Outbound Conference in Shanghai.

The flagship conference, which took place on Tuesday, was organised for businesses looking to strengthen their international growth strategies. It was attended by representatives from more than 350 leading Chinese and global businesses, including Jaguar Land Rover, HSBC and China International Capital Corporation, as well as a number of key political figures.

A video message from Prime Minister David Cameron was broadcast and translated into Mandarin, further endorsing his support of next summer’s global event and encouraging Chinese businesses to be involved.

IFB 2014 is a 50-day business festival hosted in Liverpool city region during June-July 2014 and will champion UK businesses to new markets, new products and new partners.

Cllr Small also met Han Zheng, the Shanghai China Communist Party Secretary and former Mayor of Shanghai, to discuss the festival’s programme and to reinforce Liverpool’s ‘sister-city’ relationship with Shanghai.

Cllr Small said: “Liverpool already has a very strong relationship with our sister city Shanghai, cemented at World Expo in 2010 which we have continued to build on.”

“IFB 2014 is a fantastic opportunity to strengthen our links further with the second biggest economy in the world. The feedback I’ve already had from Chinese business leaders has been really positive.”

The tour will conclude with visits to the Eastern-China provinces of Hangzhou and Nanjing.

The Liverpool delegates will meet senior representatives from the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the acting mayor of Hangzhou.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .