UK and Taiwan: Working Together For Growth
2011-03-18
UK and Taiwan: Working Together For Growth
On Thursday March 17th, the British Chamber of Commerce in Taipei in conjunction with the European Chamber of Commerce and the American Chamber of Commerce invited the Right Honourable Lord Mayor Alderman Michael Bear to address Chamber members.
The Lord Mayor spoke to members about the exciting opportunities that existed for UK-Taiwan Business. He described London as one of the world’s most attractive financial services centre, attracting much inbound investment and providing a business friendly environment in terms of talent, infrastructure and regulation. The Lord Mayor also spoke about iTaiwan and highlighted the expertise in design, creativity and construction that existed among British Companies.
The Lord Mayor was on a visit to Taiwan to promote and build commercial relationships between UK and Taiwan around financial and business services, urban regeneration, sustainable development and the low carbon agenda. This is the first visit to Taiwan by a Lord Mayor since October 2008.
The Role of the Lord Mayor of London
The Right Honorable Lord Mayor of London is the head of The City of London Corporation. As the municipal governing body of the City of London, the role of the City of London Corporation is to provide local government services for the financial and commercial heart of Britain referred to as the 'Square Mile' - one of the world’s leading international finance centres. Over 40% of the workforce within the City is employed by overseas companies.
The Lord Mayor is responsible for supporting and promoting the City as a world leader in international finance and business services, listening to City businesses and advising the Government of the day on what is needed to help the financial services sector to function well. He visits some 20 countries a year to represent the City and encourage growing economies to raise capital in London as well as to open up new markets for City businesses.
About the Speaker
The current Lord Mayor Mr Alderman Michael Bear was born in Nairobi, brought up in Cyprus and educated at Clifton College in Bristol. He studied Civil Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa and an MBA at Cranfield University. He has held senior positions in both the property and construction industries working for Balfour Beatty, Spitalfields Development Group and Hammerson plc. His voluntary work includes charity projects in South Africa, Bangladesh and throughout the UK.
