15 January 2008
Lord Mayor of City of London visits Israel and Occupied
Palestinian Territories for first time in nine years
Lord Mayor David Lewis, global ambassador for the UK-based
financial services industry and elected head of the City of London
Corporation, visits Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Ramallah from 21-24
January, to strengthen business links. In Israel he will meet
President Shimon Peres.
Lord Mayor Lewis, who travels at UK Cabinet minister rank and is
one of a series of UK visitors taking forward economic ties in the
lead-up to a Middle East Investment Conference in Bethlehem in the
spring, said:
“Both Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories form part
of the same economic zone and there are many opportunities for
expanding links with the international financial centre of
London.
“Many entrepreneurs from the region are already active across
the globe, often using London for capital and expertise; we want to
deepen these existing contacts and extend them further.
“The new borders of the EU lie barely 250 miles away from Israel
and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This City visit is to
encourage the process of increasing connectivity between London and
the region/Middle East.”
The Lord Mayor, a former Senior Partner of global law firm
Norton Rose, begins his international programme in 2008 with this
visit, and later takes City business delegations to the Gulf, China
and India, among some two dozen fast-developing markets.
The City of London is the world’s leading centre of
international financial services, an industry that, within the UK
accounts for 25% of the corporate tax take, a million well-paid
jobs and up to 3% of UK gross domestic product.
In Tel Aviv, Lord Mayor David Lewis and his team are set to take
part in the Israel-Britain Business Council conference on “Capital
Markets and Corporate Governance”, meet Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai,
leaders of the Tel Aviv stock exchange, high-tech researchers at
Tel-Aviv University and the Weizmann Institute, and the
Israel-British Law Association.
In Jerusalem the Lord Mayor will meet Bank of Israel Governor
Stanley Fischer, Finance Minister Ronnie Bar-On, the Committee for
Development and Promotion of Competition within the Israeli Capital
Market and (in East Jerusalem) visit the St John’s Eye
Hospital*.
In Ramallah, the Lord Mayor will meet, among others, the
Governor of the Palestinian Monetary Authority, Dr Hassan Abu
Libdeh from the Palestinian Securities Exchange and Palestinian
private sector firms.
Lord Mayor David Lewis said: “In Israel and the Occupied
Palestinian Territories there is a very wide range of economic
activity – from high-tech start-ups to labour-intensive production.
What these companies all have in common is the potential to benefit
from the leverage that financial services expertise can apply.”
Ends
Notes to editors
The City of London:
The Lord Mayor is the elected head of the City of London, which
provides local government services for the Square Mile, the
financial and commercial heart of Britain and is committed to
sustaining and enhancing the status of the business City as the
world's leading international financial and business centre through
its policies and services. Its responsibilities also extend far
beyond the City boundaries and include management of the Barbican
Centre, Central Criminal Court at the Old Bailey, Epping Forest,
Hampstead Heath, three wholesale food markets, as well as acting as
the London Port Health Authority.
Contact: Greg Williams: direct 020 7332 1455; mobile 07889 167
205