Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram will lead a trade and cultural mission to Boston and New York in a bid to bring more foreign investment into Liverpool city region. Tony McDonough reports
Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram will meet with business and civic leaders in Boston and New York in a visit to the US this month.
Mr Rotheram will lead a delegation from Liverpool city region with the aim of attracting new foreign investment. The US is the city region’s largest export market worth £1.8bn a year. Much of this is goods passing through the Port of Liverpool.
This mission will seek to promote the city region as an “innovation powerhouse” primed for investment and as a “must-visit” cultural, sports and events destination.
A series of meetings with US health-tech leaders and major biotechnology companies will be aimed at securing investment and collaboration in the city region’s £5bn health and life sciences sector.
Merseyside cultural leaders will join the Mayor in New York for meetings and events aimed at forging closer ties to help drive tourism. Mr Rotheram will also lay flowers at the Strawberry Fields memorial to John Lennon in New York’s Central Park.
“This mission is an important and necessary investment in the Liverpool city region’s future prosperity and for UK PLC,” said the Mayor.
“We have strong links through our shared histories and our unrivalled music, sport and culture attracts tens of thousands of US visitors each year. The potential to grow our ties and all the benefits it would bring to both sides is huge.
“But we need to be having the right conversations with the right people and letting our friends in the US know that Liverpool city region is not just world famous for its port, sport and culture but also home to world-leading innovation and world-class facilities.”
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He will arrive in the US after attending the Bloomberg CityLab Summit in Mexico City, along with 500 mayors and leading policymakers, innovators and creatives from across the world.
Arriving in Boston on October 17, Mayor Rotheram will embark on a schedule of meetings with life science, tourism, events and maritime industry leaders to discuss potential collaborations and investment opportunities.
He will meet Mayor of Cambridge Denise Simmons to discuss potential health and life science links in a city that’s home to innovation powerhouses Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
In New York, the focus will shift to culture and tourism with Mayor Rotheram hosting music and Beatles-themed discussions in Central Park. It will also explore Birkenhead Park’s inspiration for Central Park and their bids for World Heritage Status.
A special reception will be staged at the Museum of the City of New York to strengthen cultural ties and will include a lecture by National Museums Liverpool director Laura Pye about A Transatlantic Journey – Liverpool to New York.
Director of Culture Liverpool Claire McColgan, added: “Our historic cultural links with New York are well documented from Cunard through to The Beatles but I am really interested in the future potential of our two cities’ relationship.
“The US is a target market for tourism, and we need to accelerate this growth over the next five years by developing creative and innovative content together.”