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Recent Visitors
Liverpool’s presence at Shanghai takes step forward
2009. 25 April
NWDA chief executive Steven Broomhead said the World Expo in Shanghai next year was a major chance for businesses to gain a foothold in the burgeoning Chinese market.
(nwda.co.uk)The chief executive of the Northwest Regional Development Agency
(NWDA) has urged businesses across the region to grasp the opportunity of trade in China.
He spoke as Liverpool’s attendance at the event was taking a major step forward this week with a visit to China to finalise a range of details with organisers.
Liverpool’s Expo 2010 Director of Operations, Phil Southward, was meeting representatives from the Expo Bureau and British authorities to discuss operational and other details during the trip.
The Shanghai World Expo runs between May 1 and October 31 2010 and will attract around 90 million visitors. It is regarded as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to consolidate existing and forge new relationships in the world’s most important emerging economy and is predicted to deliver upto £50m in benefits to Liverpool and the North West over the next decade.
Liverpool is the only UK city which has committed to a dedicated pavilion at the event. Its presence is being managed by a partnership led by Liverpool City Council and the Liverpool-Shanghai Partnership, supported by Liverpool Vision and the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA).
The partnership is now seeking sponsors for Liverpool’s Pavilion with packages available to companies and organisations for between £7,500 and £100,000.
Mr Broomhead said: “One of the NWDA’s key priorities is to develop the international competitiveness of the region. I would urge businesses throughout the Northwest to take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity to gain a foothold in the burgeoning Chinese marketplace and to increase the awareness and understanding of this important international economy.
“Shanghai and the wider Chinese economy offer substantial long term opportunities for trade, investment and tourism. Shanghai Expo 2010 offers access to a share of up to 90m Chinese visitors during the 6 months of its operation. Further, it provides an opportunity to present the whole of the region’s assets and opportunities to this audience rather than solely those of the city or city region.”
Phil Southward, who is on secondment to Liverpool’s Expo project from the NWDA for the duration of the project, was this week addressing issues such as technical build requirements for the pavilion, accommodation for Expo attendees and the staffing of the Liverpool pavilion.
He was also meeting Chinese Expo officials and representatives from the British Chambers of Commerce and UK Trade and Investment to discuss potential support which might be available to companies sponsoring Liverpool’s presence.
Mr Southward said: “Confirmation of the NWDA’s £1.25m contribution means we have the funding in place to press ahead with some of the more detailed planning for the event and ensures our presence at Expo 2010.”
“This week will help us to nail down some of the administrative and logistical issues and determine the level of additional benefits we can offer our sponsors over and above what is already committed. We must take every opportunity to enhance the impact of the Liverpool pavilion at the Expo, so that we can showcase, the City, the City Region and the North West on a world stage”
“One of the key issues for us will be how we staff the pavilion.”
Mr Southward revealed he is in talks with Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University – a joint venture international university set up by a partnership of the University of Liverpool and Xi’an Jiaotong University in Suzhou – to explore whether their students might be available to assist in providing the role of bilingual hosts for visitors to the Liverpool pavilion.
Prof Kelvin Everest, the University of Liverpool’s Director of Academic Affairs for China, said: “Our ambition is that students from both universities could be involved in staffing the pavilion, which would be a great experience for them.
“Chinese students who take a Liverpool degree at Xi’an Jiaotong have the option of transferring to Liverpool at the end of the second year of their four-year degree in. They then enter the second year of a three-year Liverpool degree, and at that point they become ordinary University of Liverpool students who happen to be Chinese.“
Mr Southward added that the Expo team was in discussion with a
number of potential sponsors for the Liverpool Pavilion and that
there was significant interest from the private sector across the
North West.
He added: “We have produced a range of affordable sponsorship
options specifically to ensure that SMEs which want to test the
viability of entering the Chinese marketplace can do so in a low
risk manner.”
“The packages are designed to deliver very specific and tangible benefits to participants over and above the kind of brand exposure they might expect as a matter of course.”
All of the sponsorship opportunities include a package of
professional business support that includes:
• meetings with Shanghai government officials
• identification of and introduction to business
prospects
• translation services
• the processing of visa applications
• provision of meeting venues
• targeted publicity
• complete Shanghai side care package
Businesses wishing to obtain further information on sponsorship
packages should contact Graham Miller at Liverpool Vision on 0151
600 2900 or email gmiller@liverpoolvision.co.uk
Further information is available at www.liverpoolshanghai2010.com
ENDS
Notes to editors follow
NOTES TO EDITORS
Liverpool is the only UK city to have committed to a dedicated
presence at the Shanghai world Expo 2010.
The Expo takes place every four years and is an opportunity for
participants to showcase investment opportunities and cultural
distinctiveness to an international audience.
Organisers of the Shanghai 2010 Expo estimate that 70million people
will visit the Expo during its six month run from May 1st to
October 31st 2010.
Liverpool’s presence at Expo 2010 is being led by a partnership of
Liverpool City Council and The Liverpool Shanghai Partnership,
supported by economic development company Liverpool Vision and the
Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA).
The NWDA has committed £1.25m to support Liverpool’s presence,
whilst Liverpool City Council has committed £300,000.
At the Expo, Liverpool will represent the whole North West region’s
cultural and business assets and will celebrate the tenth
anniversary of its twin city relationship with Shanghai.
The Liverpool Pavilion will be housed within the Urban Best
Practice Area of the 5.3 sq km Expo site which overlooks the
Huangpu River.
For more information please contact Jon Brown at Paver Smith on
0151 239 5000 or: 07811 451184
brown@paversmith.co.uk
Source:www.nwda.co.uk