Benefits of London representatives expected to significantly outweigh costs

The benefits of a pilot project placing an Auckland representative on the ground in London for 12 months are expected to significantly outweigh the costs, ATEED Chief Executive, Brett O’Riley said today.

Mayor Len Brown was briefed in detail on the London pilot project today.

"We are united as one city to face the international stage and bring major opportunities to the city that could not have happened before,” says Len Brown. “In areas like tourism and events, ATEED has already achieved this on behalf of Auckland Council. We need to work beyond our sister cities into major financial and economic hubs, sometimes with visits and delegations, and on occasions with project placements in market. Our goal is to aggressively grow international investment and revenues into Auckland which is completely consistent with our Auckland Plan, our Economic Development Strategy and central government's Business Growth Agenda.".

"We must take advantage of the opportunities that are presented to us, and it is exciting to see a strong pipeline off interest, I am regularly meeting with investors attracted through these sorts of activities."

ATEED’s Brett O'Riley added: “Auckland is New Zealand’s only international city and we have to be out there putting Auckland front and centre in key centres around the world, and that means at times having dedicated resource on the ground telling Auckland’s story.”

“London is the hub of the global financial world where major investment decisions are made on a daily basis and is also our gateway to Europe, as the Council blueprints for transforming Auckland, the Auckland Plan and the Economic Development Strategy, recognise:

“Auckland competes internationally for ideas, talent, skills and capital. Australian cities, for example, attract thousands of our talented young people each year and compete with us for immigrants from Europe and Asia.”

“With a small domestic market, international connectivity is critical to Auckland’s economy – through internationalising firms’ activities, earning export income, attracting skilled migrants to Auckland, and improving Auckland’s global connections. To create the economic step change, we will strengthen the international connections between Auckland and other international cities to improve trade and investment ties.”

“The international connections that Auckland builds and maintains with other economies and city-regions will be critical if we are to attract and retain the entrepreneurs, talent and investment we need to lift growth.”

“The London pilot project is focused on skilled and investor migrant attraction work, promoting Auckland to high net worth and investor networks in the UK and Europe, establishing beneficial collaborative relationships with key organisations in the UK, such as in the food and beverage innovation business, for example, and raising the profile of Auckland directly with key influencers, and opening up export opportunities for Auckland business.”

“The opportunity to have a senior person on the ground with specialist skills and who knows Auckland and how best to unlock our potential and connect with the people who matter in the UK and Europe was an opportunity we took full advantage of in order to help deliver growth and prosperity for Auckland, in the same way we have in San Francisco and plan to have in the future in China.”

“The London pilot project will be reviewed before its completion in late September 2015 and the tangible gains will be reported to Council once commercial and legal sensitivities allow, as part of the review, as they were in relation to the recent mission to Monaco which brought in around $29 million in commercial activity for Auckland.”

"We are expecting visits in Auckland from investors engaged with through this programme in the coming weeks and we look forward to reporting on those,” Brett O’Riley said.

Ends

© Scoop Media