Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram is to lead a high-level mission to the United States aimed at driving tens of millions of pounds of long-term investment, trade and tourism to the area.
Rotheram will embark on a packed schedule of meetings with civic and business leaders in Boston and New York aimed at promoting the city region as an innovation powerhouse primed for investment and as a must-visit cultural, sports and events destination, visited by more than 60 million people each year.
The US is Liverpool City Region’s largest export market worth £1.8 billion a year and is the biggest source of overseas investment.
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 £5 billion health and life sciences sector.
City region cultural leaders will join the Mayor in New York for meetings and events aimed at building on the regions’ shared histories and forging closer ties to help drive tourism.
The Mayor will also lay flowers at the Strawberry Fields memorial to John Lennon in New York’s Central Park.
Rotheram 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, Rotheram will enter a hectic schedule of meetings with life science, tourism, events and maritime industry leaders to discuss potential collaborations and investment opportunities and to promote the city region as the best place to invest and grow a business.
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 (MIT).
In New York, the focus will shift to culture and tourism with Rotheram hosting music and Beatles-themed discussions in Central Park. The meeting will also explore Birkenhead Park’s inspiration for Central Park and their bids for World Heritage Status.
Rotheram said: “This mission is an important and necessary investment in the Liverpool City Region’s future prosperity and for UK PLC.
“The US is already our largest export market and a major source of foreign direct investment, creating jobs and wealth in our city region.
“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.
“This mission is about sowing the seeds for future investment, collaboration and economic growth. I’ve pledged to boost foreign direct investment by 25%, creating jobs and prosperity for local people, and I’m determined to do whatever it takes to make that happen.”
The Mayor will return to the UK while a smaller delegation heads to North Carolina, which with a GDP of $550 billion – approximately the same as Sweden – was named “America’s top state for business” in a study for CNBC last year.