London is one of the world’s most desired destinations for business, with overseas investors from across the globe channelling millions of pounds into commercial property in the capital. However, in order to maintain and expand this current pace of growth, London Mayor Boris Johnson is leading a delegation to the Far East to encourage increased investment in the capital.
Mr Johnson, along with UK representatives including M&G Real Estate chairman Alexander Jeffrey and Louise Brooke-Smith, President of The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), will visit Singapore, Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur over the next six days.
The delegation will meet with senior politicians, investors and business leaders in these key economic growth regions, aiming to forge closer ties with the three cities in order to champion the numerous investment opportunities currently available in London.
In a statement, Mr Johnson explained the benefits closer ties with the Far East would bring the people and businesses of London.
He said; “The truly dynamic cities of Singapore, Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur are delivering exciting infrastructure and regeneration at a fast pace and are the perfect partners for London to share knowledge and expertise across many important sectors.
“By strengthening ties we secure long standing relationships that will form the basis of an abundance of opportunities for Londoners and people for the Far East to work together on future possibilities.”
London’s strongly performing financial technology industry will be particularly highlighted by the delegation during their trip, as it is currently growing at a pace faster than anywhere else in the world. 44,000 people are currently employed within the sector and annual revenue generation amounts to £20 billion across the UK.
Therefore, during the Singapore leg of the visit, the delegation will be joined by a selection of representatives from some of London’s most exciting new technology firms, who will pitch their ideas for future growth to major investors in the area. They will form a major part of the UKTI mission team who will support talks in the region, with representatives from the field of science progression also providing invaluable help in encouraging an investment boom.
This is not the first time the UK has sought to strengthen ties with growing economies in the Far East – airports have, for some time, been encouraged to up the number of direct flights to Beijing as a means of boosting opportunities for investors to visit and meet with business leaders.
However, as Malaysia is currently in the process of implementing several major public infrastructure programmes, it has been identified as the region best capable of meeting London’s requirements for UK engineering business growth.
Mr Johnson believes that the delegation will be able to convince major cities in the Far East that London is well and truly “open for business.”
He concludes; “It is vital to continue to bang the drum loudly for the capital’s status as a world class destination for business, jobs and innovation.”
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