Member Article

Liverpool International Festival of Business set for 2014

500,000 visitors are expected to attend the International Festival of Business (IFB) in Liverpool and the Wirral in 2014.

Organised by Liverpool Vision, the festival will take place across three locations in the city-region, including the yet-to-be-built Wirral International Trade Centre, Liverpool’s Echo Arena and BT Convention Centre.

The aim of the month-long IFB is to contribute to the rebalancing of the British economy, away from its reliance on boom conditions and banking in the south of the country towards the north of England’s slower economy.

£5m of central Government funding has recently been secured for the project, as part of Liverpool’s second round of City Deal funding.

Now £10m must be raised from other sources, including the private sector, in order to ensure the festival is a success.

Chief executive of Liverpool Vision, Max Steinberg, said: “We have made great strides in recent years in terms of international relations and partnerships and knowledge sharing, but there is more to be done to get across the message about the progress we have made in the last decade.

“It’s about bringing global trading opportunities to the city. It’s about showcasing the enterprise zones and showcasing the transformation of the city. It’s also about going out to connect with global growth markets, the BRIC countries, the USA and 100 plus other countries that will be exhibiting their products.

“We know the domestic economy is going to be slow for some time yet, so we are looking for other countries to bring those trade opportunities to Liverpool and Wirral.”

The four weeks of the IFB will be themed around potential high growth sectors for Merseyside such as the low carbon economy, the knowledge economy, superport and visitor economy.

Frank McKenna, chairman of business lobby group Downtown Liverpool in Business, said: “There is not much in the UK that is similar to this. Around the world there are similar expos, but they concentrate on industry sectors, whereas this is wider than that.

“It demonstrates that Liverpool is determined to build on the momentum of the Shanghai Expo and the Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC).”

Mr McKenna, who has long campaigned for more streamlined local government, added: “Our track record of cross city-region working is not particularly good, so I hope this acts as a catalyst for better collaboration, not just among the boroughs directly involved but Knowsley, St Helens and Halton as well. They all have the potential to benefit. It’s for everybody’s good that this happens.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .