Mayor to lead trade mission to the USA aiming to increase investment in the Liverpool City Region

Mayor Steve Rotheram is to lead a high-level mission to the United States aimed at driving tens of millions of pounds of long-term investment, trade and tourism to the Liverpool City Region.

The Mayor will embark on a packed schedule of meetings with civic and business leaders in Boston and New York aimed at promoting the Liverpool City Region as an innovation powerhouse primed for investment and as a must-visit cultural, sports and events destination, visited by more than 60 million people each year.

The US is Liverpool City Region’s largest export market worth £1.8bn a year and is the biggest source of overseas investment, with huge opportunities to increase trade and tourism.

A series of meetings with US health-tech leaders and major biotechnology companies will be aimed at securing investment and collaboration in the city region’s thriving £5bn health and life sciences sector.

City region cultural leaders will join the Mayor in New York for meetings and events aimed at building on the regions’ shared histories and forging closer ties to help drive tourism. The Mayor will also lay flowers at the Strawberry Fields memorial to John Lennon in New York’s Central Park.

Mayor Steve Rotheram said:

“This mission is an important and necessary investment in the Liverpool City Region’s future prosperity and for UK PLC.

“The US is already our largest export market and a major source of foreign direct investment, creating jobs and wealth in our city region.

“We have strong links through our shared histories and our unrivalled music, sport and culture attracts tens of thousands of US visitors each year.

“The potential to grow our ties and all the benefits it would bring to both sides is huge, but we need to be having the right conversations with the right people and letting our friends in the US know that Liverpool City Region is not just world famous for its port, sport and culture but also home to world-leading innovation and world-class facilities.

“This mission is about sowing the seeds for future investment, collaboration and economic growth. I’ve pledged to boost foreign direct investment by 25%, creating jobs and prosperity for local people, and I’m determined to do whatever it takes to make that happen.”

Liverpool skyline rooftop view at night with buildings in England in United Kingdom

The Mayor will arrive in the US after attending the Bloomberg CityLab Summit in Mexico City, along with 500 mayors and leading policymakers, innovators and creatives from across the world.

Arriving in Boston on October 17, Mayor Rotheram will enter a hectic schedule of meetings with life science, tourism, events and maritime industry leaders to discuss potential collaborations and investment opportunities and to promote the city region as the best place to invest and grow a business. He will meet Mayor of Cambridge Denise Simmons to discuss potential health and life science links in a city that’s home to innovation powerhouses Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

In New York, the focus will shift to culture and tourism with Mayor Rotheram hosting music and Beatles-themed discussions in Central Park. The meeting will also explore Birkenhead Park’s inspiration for Central Park and their bids for World Heritage Status.

Liverpool has a rich shared history with the United States and was the exit port for millions of people emigrating to America during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

A special reception will be staged at the Museum of the City of New York to strengthen cultural ties and will include a lecture by National Museums Liverpool Director Laura Pye about ‘A Transatlantic journey – Liverpool to New York’.

With Liverpool City Region aiming to build its thriving major events sector, the Mayor will visit both Boston Convention and Exhibition Centre and New York Convention Centre to discuss the power of business events for inward investment. The talks will also explore opportunities to partner over global events.

The New York leg will finish with a visit to Mt Sinai Hospital’s Center for Engineering and Precision Medicine to discuss innovation opportunities.

The Mayor will return to the UK, while a smaller delegation heads to North Carolina, which with a GDP of $550bn – approximately the same as Sweden – was named ‘America’s top state for business’ in a study for CNBC last year.

The state signed a pact with the UK government in July 2022 aimed at streamlining trade and investment and laying a framework for increased cooperation in areas such as clean tech and energy infrastructure.

The North Carolina leg of the mission features visits to leading biotech firms and Duke University’s School of Medicine, which is one of the country’s leading institutions for health professions and biomedical education, clinical care, biomedical research, and community partnership. They will also meet the Mayor of Durham.

Liverpool Skyline — Credit: The Guide Liverpool

Accounting for a nearly a fifth of all exports, valued at £1.8bn of goods and services, the US is the Liverpool City Region’s biggest overseas market.

Total trade between the city region and the US is worth £2.5bn and Liverpool is the UK’s largest western-facing port, handling 45% of the UK’s trade from the US.

The US is also Liverpool City Region’s largest market for inward investment with US-owned companies investing £2.1bn into the local economy.

Meanwhile the US is the second most valuable source of international visitors to the Liverpool City Region and the third highest by number.

Nationally, the US is the UK’s top tourism market for both spend and volume with leisure visitors staying an average of seven nights and spending more than £1,400 each. The New York Tri-State metropolitan area accounts for around 14% of US visitors to the UK alone.

Research shows key UK attractions are culture, heritage, history, sports, vibrant cities and coastal scenery.

The delegation includes senior representatives from the city region’s Health and Life Sciences sector, including the University of Liverpool and Health Innovation North West Coast, as well as leaders from Culture Liverpool, National Museums Liverpool, ACC Liverpool and UK Music.