Edinburgh built up an alliance with Shenzhen in southern China providing incubator office space at the Creative Exchange for Chinese investors and setting up a similar facility in China for those who travel from Edinburgh.
This innovative plan has been recognised by FDI Awards 2016 announced earlier this morning along with accolades for equivalent schemes set up by Manchester, Nottingham and Chicago. (FDI means Foreign Direct Investment).
Other cities across the globe have been noted for investment promotion, performance management and regeneration schemes. Galway which is to be home to RTÉ Mojocon next May for three days is lauded for its Smart City Initiative aiming to create a public WiFI and Open Data source network.
Glasgow has been lauded for its Glasgow Guarantee, broadly similar to the Edinburgh Guarantee. The Glasgow Guarantee offers wage subsidies of up to 50% to investors employing apprentices and graduates under 20 years of age.
Edinburgh’s award recognises the collaboration with Shenzen and the Memorandum of Understanding with Innovate Finance to help Edinburgh and London promote technology companies supplying new and innovative software products to the financial sector. In addition the council established StartEDIN to help attract skilled tech workers to the city as well as the Edinburgh Hotel Prospectus which highlights the hotel market and key opportunities for operators and developers.
Cllr Gavin Barrie, Economy Convener, said: “This is yet another fantastic result for Edinburgh and welcome confirmation that our strategy is driving investment to Edinburgh and creating thousands of new jobs. Due to its excellent quality of life and vibrant economy Edinburgh provides an excellent environment for companies of all sizes, both home grown and international, to succeed.
“The city’s rapid growth in the tech sector and start-up scene and increased international reputation coupled with long-standing expertise in finance mean that Edinburgh is well positioned to attract investment.
“In the past 12 months we’ve welcomed over 25 new foreign investors to the city and this award recognises that Edinburgh is regarded as a truly global player.”
Last month Edinburgh was awarded British Entrepreneurial City of the Year, ranked third in the Good Growth for Cities Report and votedbest city to locate your tech business. The Council also announced last month that Edinburgh is to host EUROCITIES in 2018, welcoming all Europe’s major city leaders to the Capital.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
