"Birmingham is a dynamic city attracting people from all over
the world but we cannot work in a vacuum." said Mike Whitby, Leader
of the Council.
He was speaking at Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(BCI) quarterly council meeting, where he was invited by President,
Paul Bassi to become a member of the council.
Mr. Whitby said he was delighted to accept the invitation
"because it will be the public and private sector working together
which will generate wealth".
He added: "The West Midland economy has not contracted so much
since 1921 but decline set in from 1976 and through every
recession, we have never reached the peak when we had a formidable
manufacturing base."
Pictured above: (l-r) Jerry Blackett, Chief Executive
of the Chamber with Mike Whitby, Leader of the Council and Paul
Bassi, President of the Chamber
Mr. Whitby listed the many attractive major investment projects
which are contributing to Birmingham being a "dynamic city" which
included the £450m Chiltern line, the New Street Gateway
railway station, £600m final phase of the Queen Elizabeth
Hospital and the Cube building. He also referred to the building of
the £144m library. He said the reported £180 million
was pro rata and included maintenance costs.
He said the region's capacity to design, develop and manufacture
is creating investment interest worldwide, an asset that would be
promoted to the international property market at MIPIM in March.
Major investment has already come from Deutsche bank which will
eventually create 900 jobs for the city he said.