Agenda item

Report of the Director of Economic Development.

Members received a quarterly update from the Economic Development Office. The Director of Economic Development gave some examples of successful work the office had undertaken since the Grand Committee granted an uplift last year, including the Green Finance Summit (with 700 attendees), launch of the Institute of Apprenticeships at Mansion House, as well as work to discuss what could be included in the financial services chapter of a bespoke Free Trade Agreement between the UK and the EU27.

Members also received verbal updates from the Special Representative to the City for the EU and the Special Adviser for Asia.

The Special Representative for the EU gave background on the current political landscape and the UK’s relationship with the EU. He updated Members on his extensive travel across the EU, most recently to Denmark, Spain, Portugal, Lithuania, Italy, Austria, Poland and Brussels, which is coordinated with partners, including the Foreign Commonwealth Office network. Members were requested to feedback on the visits’ reports. 

The Special Adviser for Asia explained how her work was focused on three key strategic regions: Greater China, India and Singapore, as a part of “future-proofing” the City, using opportunities for trade and investment in Asia. She talked about how the learnings of her recent visits make clear that there is a growing need to engage with China, including contributing to the Belt and Road initiative. She mentioned that Singapore is seen as both a collaborator and competitor as a global financial centre looking aggressively at opportunities, post-Brexit. In India, she noted we participated in the recent UK-India Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD). She added that the City Corporation offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Mumbai were being utilised to pick up intelligence on the ground and push forward work on identified priorities.

The Chairman commented that this activity was especially important in the current political climate, and particularly important to do in partnership with others, such as TheCityUK and the International Regulatory Strategy Group (IRSG).

The following additional points were made:

·         The Chairman of the IRSG will be attending the Resource Allocation Sub Committee Away Day

·         The risks that are posed to the City post-Brexit are also posed to the rest of the EU27. It is in everyone’s interest that a Brexit deal is struck, which maintains the City’s status as the world leading financial centre.

·         Material in Chinese, including brochures and/or a video, could be produced to give out to stakeholders from China.

·         Members with the relevant connections and expertise can be used to support the work in Asia and the EU. 

·         The Policy Chairman will be introducing a series of briefing breakfasts for Members on particular areas relating to the work of the Economic Development Office.

·         There was discussion on whether it would be useful for the Special Representative and Special Advisers to be accompanied on visits by the industry, where one Member proposed that access to key stakeholders could be reduced on visits with a wider delegation.

The Sub Committee agreed that they would like to see a regular update on the Economic Development Office, each month.

RECEIVED