Strengthening economic relations
Around 80 representatives from the business community and trade associations in the city of Manchester, the Greater Manchester metropolitan area and the Free State of Saxony took part in this conference. The Chemnitz Business Day is intended to enrich the exchange between the regions.
Following an official reception hosted by Lord Mayor Shaukat Ali, who was elected to office at the end of May, a business forum was held featuring various presentations for the business representatives.
The aim of the lecture series was to gain an understanding of each other’s economic structures in order to foster targeted cooperation. The participants from Saxony found it particularly interesting to learn how Manchester had made the transition from a former industrial city to the fastest-growing technology and services sector in the UK. During the subsequent visit to the Oxford Quarter, they also gained an insight into a knowledge district where up to 3,000 companies in the fields of technology, life sciences, the creative industries and services are dedicated to addressing contemporary challenges in research, innovation and skills development.
The Chemnitz Business Day in Manchester is being held in collaboration with the cities of Leipzig and Dresden, which organised their own events in their respective twin cities, Birmingham (Leipzig) and Coventry (Dresden), on the following days. Accordingly, the Chemnitz delegation travelled on to Birmingham on 23 June and to Coventry on 24 June. Manchester is situated around 300 kilometres north-west of London, has a population of 520,000, but the wider metropolitan area is home to up to 2.9 million people. The city is regarded as the cradle of the Industrial Revolution. It is also home to two universities – the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University – which together have more than 70,000 students, making Manchester one of Europe’s largest university cities. Photo: Cornelia Siegel two universities, which together have more than 70,000 students, making Manchester one of Europe’s largest centres of higher education. Chemnitz has been a twin town of the British metropolis since 1983. Exchange programmes are in place in the fields of culture and sport.