Greater Manchester Combined Authority has announced a mission to boost ties in diplomacy, trade and investment with Japan – including a visit that will take place later this year.
A delegation will visit Osaka and Tokyo between 4 and 8 December and hope to promote Greater Manchester as one of the largest and fastest growing city-regions in the UK.
Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, will be leading the delegation alongside Leader of Manchester City Council, Bev Craig, and the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Japan, Greg Clark MP.
The visit will engage with politicians, trade officials and Japanese business in order to broaden and intensify political, business, cultural and civic links.
Mr Burnham said: “I am very proud to be leading this mission to Japan alongside Bev Craig, Greg Clark and the Greater Manchester Japan Steering Group.
“Our ties run particularly deep with Osaka, which shares many similarities with out city-region.”
Ties between Manchester and Japan go back to the 19th Century, after a group of students from Osaka came to the city to learn about the industrial technology being used in the local cotton industry.
This visit boosted the industrial revolution taking place and helped Osaka become known as the Manchester of the East.
The relationship between Manchester and Japan has continued to grow with Osaka, including a three-year partnership on Net Zero.
Leader of the Manchester City Council, Ms Craig, said: “The delegation will be working to create mutually beneficial links, including around green technologies which will contribute towards our goal of becoming a zero carbon city by 2038.”
In 2021, Manchester exported £56million worth of goods to Japan and the country is in the top 10 markets for export services in the city-region.
Havashi Hajime, Ambassador of Japan to the UK, said: “This visit will not only provide an opportunity for our friends of Manchester to see the ‘present form’ of what we have learnt from the UK, but also to develop something new based on our long relationship to mutually complement and enhance our strengths, and addresses common challenges.”
Organisations taking part in the mission to Japan include Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Manchester City Council and the Department for Business and Trade.
