Liverpool, Expo 2010, and a disinterested Tory minister

I thought I’d use my blog this time to highlight an exchange with the government minister Damian Green.  Whilst I’m glad to receive a reply to my letter, I’m not altogether surprised that he completely disregarded the points that I made and instead chose to make another generalising statement with no factual basis behind it.  So much for the Tories listening powers.

Damian Green was on BBC Question Time on 3^rd February, and in my letter to him I took issue with a comment he made about overseas trips made by Liverpool City councillors.

My letter on 4^th February read:

During the BBC Question Time programme last night, 3^rd February 2011, whilst answering a question regarding the decision by Liverpool City Council to withdraw from its participation in the “Big Society”, you made a somewhat throw-away comment that Liverpool councillors had made visits to China, which could have led members of the audience to conclude that those councillors had been wasting tax-payers money on such trips.

You should be aware that Liverpool was the only UK city to have a dedicated pavilion at World Expo 2010 in Shanghai.  This was a major coup for the city which came about because of Liverpool’s long standing relationship with China generally, and the city of Shanghai in particular, and the city’s heightened profile during its tenure as the 2008 European Capital of Culture.

Liverpool’s presence at Expo 2010 was led by Liverpool Vision in partnership with the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), Liverpool City Council and the Liverpool Shanghai Partnership.  The NWDA committed £1.25m to support Liverpool’s presence, whilst Liverpool City Council committed £300,000.

The event was regarded in Liverpool as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to consolidate existing and forge new relationships in the world’s emerging markets and to showcase Liverpool’s track record of urban regeneration under the Expo theme of Better City, Better Life.

During the 6 months of Expo 2010 over 770,000 visits were made to the Liverpool Pavilion and the city council estimates that over £50M of inward investment will come to the city as a direct result of those visits.

The pavilion’s main sponsor was Peel Holdings, which has interests in ports, airports, renewable energy, media and property development across the North West.   It is hoped that further Chinese investment will be made in the region and particularly in Peel Holding’s Wirral Waters and Liverpool Waters developments, and representatives from Shanghai have already made reciprocal visits to Liverpool to develop that process.   During a visit to the Liverpool Pavilion Mike Taylor, Deputy CEO of Liverpool Vision remarked; “Undoubtedly the Peel Group offer some of the most significant, impressive and attractive investment opportunities being promoted at World Expo in Shanghai. The scale and potential of what will be the UK’s largest regeneration scheme is of huge interest to potential investors at home and overseas and with Peel and Liverpool City Council united behind a shared vision and ambition for the City we are on the right track in promoting economic growth and the creation of jobs on a massive scale”.

On 18^th February Damian Green wrote back to me:

Thank you for your letter about Liverpool.

I am as convinced as ever that Liverpool City Council’s decision to pull out of the Big Society project was indeed politically motivated, and that the main victims of this will be the people of Liverpool.

When government ministers themselves are busy making trips to China, India, Brazil and other emerging and enlarging markets, I’m saddened that the efforts from the leaders of one of our largest cities to bring much needed foreign investment should be denigrated in this way.

Indeed Green’s fellow minister Mark Prisk, Minister of State at the Department for Business said "I hope the success of the British contribution to the Shanghai Expo will become a symbol which embodies the determination that the UK and China have to become partners devoted to economic growth."

This success was recognised recently when Liverpool Vision won the China Recognition Award, The accolade was to celebrate the successful delivery of the Liverpool Pavilion.

Runner up was The Peel Group.  Chairman of The Peel Group, John Whittaker, also attended David Cameron’s Trade Mission to Beijing in November 2010 as part of a large delegation of prominent UK businesses, and last month Mr Whittaker met China’s Executive Vice Premier Li Keqiang during his visit to the UK.

The Recognition award, sponsored by UK Trade and Investment and the Northwest Development Agency, is given in recognition of named individuals or organisations that have made a significant contribution to developing links with Greater China during 2010.

Philomena Chen, Head of Asia Pacific Development for UK Trade & Investment, said: “There was an outstanding level of entries for the North West region this year, and our winners of the China Recognition Awards are the individuals who have shown the greatest commitment to forging links with mainland China, Hong Kong or Taiwan.

“Liverpool’s involvement in the Shanghai World Expo, and the success of the Pavilion were key to demonstrating Liverpool’s commitment to Shanghai and China, positioning the city well with key decision makers and Chinese businesses.

"It put the city and the North West on the map as a future investment destination and Liverpool Vision is a worthy winner of the China Recognition Award.

"In addition, The Peel Group’s role as lead sponsors was instrumental in encouraging engagement with China with a view to securing inward investment into the North West region."

Clive Drinkwater, International Trade Director for UK Trade & Investment North West, said: "This year’s North West England Greater China Recognition Awards recognise Liverpool Vision and The Peel Group as two organisations which have done the most to strengthen the links between our countries and businesses in the region.

"We would like to extend our sincere congratulations to these extremely worthy winners, who have worked closely with UK Trade and Investment and been of invaluable help in allowing us to offer assistance to North West companies hoping to do business in this exciting market."