Major delegation set to promote West Midlands
AMAJOR delegation from the Midlands will travel to France next month to promote Birmingham and the so-called ‘Midlands Engine’ at international property conference MIPIM.
The cohort comprises ten local enterprise partnership (LEP) areas and 49 private and public sector partners which will come together in Cannes for the four-day event which starts on March 14.
The Midlands Engine delegation is the largest of its kind to represent the UK at this year’s event.
The region will showcase more than £14 billion worth of projects and investment sites to the annual exhibition’s 23,000 visitors, which include potential investors, developers, property agents and the media.
Themes will range from the opportunities surrounding the Midlands’ transport links, including the new High Speed 2 rail network, to the region’s enterprise zones, housing and commercial schemes.
Sir John Peace, chairman of the Midlands Engine, said: “The Midlands is coming together on an unprecedented scale at MIPIM to attract even more investment from around the world.
“The Midlands Engine is working hard to accelerate growth across the whole region, and local authorities, LEPs and businesses are all collaborating to bring this ambition to fruition.
“MIPIM is always a success for our region and this year we have more exciting investment opportunities than ever before.
“For the first time, a brand new Midlands pavilion will showcase the wide range of investment opportunities across the region, demonstrating to investors around the world that the Midlands is open for business and can offer a global proposition.”
The region’s presence is being co-ordinated by inward investment agency Marketing Birmingham, together with the Department for International Trade and partners including Birmingham Airport, East Midlands Airport, Jaguar Land Rover and the Midlands Enterprise Universities group.
Councillor John Clancy, leader of Birmingham City Council, said: “Interest and confidence in Birmingham is booming – shown by a significant increase in office and residential construction and the highest rate of business growth of any UK city in 2016.
“Last year’s MIPIM exhibition put Birmingham firmly in the spotlight, with landmark announcements surrounding the city’s multi-million pound Paradise, Smithfield and Snowhill developments.
“As part of a united presence this year with our colleagues from across the Midlands, we will be demonstrating to global investors that Birmingham has a huge range of options for big capital investment in regeneration schemes such as Curzon to smaller shovel-ready projects.”