THE City of London Corporation announced on Thursday a year-long initiative asking businesses in the UK and abroad to help shape its work across Asia over the next 10 years.
The ‘Asia Next Decade’ campaign sees the launch of a new website where industry partners can go to submit their views on Asia via an online survey.
The campaign is a bid to promote growth, trade and development with other global emerging markets as the City experiences drops in job vacancies and fears of losing its status as Europe’s leading financial hub because of Brexit.
“As the UK prepares to leave the European Union, one thing the government has made clear is its ambitions to help companies expand their operations across the world,” said policy chief Catherine McGuinness. “Asia, which by 2025 is forecast to account for nearly half the world’s GDP, is a crucial part of this ‘Global Britain’ vision.”
A report commissioned by the City Corporation stated that Asia is a “hugely important partner for the UK, both now and in the future”.
Great to speak today at the #CCCUK China-UK Economic and Trade Cooperation event held in our historical #Guildlhall. I talked about my upcoming visit to China in March, and what role London can play in the #BeltAndRoadInitiative. Read my full speech: https://t.co/dG5BGARzmD … pic.twitter.com/LhgrjQJOfo
— Lord Mayor of London (@citylordmayor) January 18, 2018
The research, conducted by Asia House, showed that the region is the fastest growing trade partner for the UK and is forecast to account for around half of world GDP by 2030.
According to the report, in 10 years’ time China and India will be the first and third ranked world economies respectively, while Indonesia is projected to be the world’s fifth biggest economy in 2030, just below Japan (based on Purchasing Power Parity).
The campaign was endorsed by Asia Minister and City MP Mark Field, who said he was “committed to promoting London’s offer to the fastest growing and most dynamic region in the world”.
The launch comes as the City Corporation celebrates the 10-year anniversary of representative offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Mumbai, all of which will hold special events over the next year to mark the milestone.
