The Lord Mayor of the City of London, Jeffrey Mountevans, is to lead a business delegation to Tokyo, Japan (13-15 July), selling the City of London and the UK as the regional partner of choice when it comes to financial and professional services.

The Lord Mayor acts as ambassador for the UK’s financial and professional services, and will be meeting with senior members of the government, investment authorities, regulators and business leaders. Other notable events he will take part in include:

• Meeting the Deputy Governor of Tokyo, the Financial Services Agency and with senior representatives from Japanese financial institutions
• Giving the keynote speech at a UKTI Asset Management Seminar
• Touring Finolab, a FinTech incubator and meeting with start ups TBC
• Giving a speech on corporate governance and outward investment to an audience of Japanese businesses
• Speaking at a roundtable on Tokyo as an international financial centre

Speaking ahead of his trip, Lord Mayor Jeffrey Mountevans said:

“With the eyes of the world on Britain for the past few weeks, my visit, as a representative of the UK’s financial district, comes at an opportune time. I will reassure the government and business of Japan that the UK is still very much open for business and investment opportunities.

“Despite the element of uncertainty that Brexit has caused to the UK, we still possess the world’s leading financial centre, highly-skilled staff, a stable rule of law, low corporation tax levels and unprecedented investment opportunities – so much so we are the leading destination for foreign direct investment into Europe.

“Japan is an incredibly important trading partner for the UK and for the City. We already have a strong commercial relationship, with over £19bn of mutual trade in goods and services in 2014. I hope this visit lays the groundwork for further commercial deals to be signed in the future.”

Notes to editors

About the Lord Mayor of the City of London

• The Lord Mayor is head of the Square Mile’s City of London authority for one year and the position is unpaid and apolitical. It is an exceptionally demanding role. The Lord Mayor spends some 90 days abroad and addresses some 10,000 people face-to-face each month (making around 800 speeches a year).

• The Lord Mayor represents City businesses and helps the City Corporation advise the Government of the day on what is needed to help the financial services sector to function well. The Lord Mayor frequently travels to represent the City; and travels overseas with the status of a Cabinet Minister.

• The Lord Mayor meets several international Heads of Government and Business each month to discuss financial services, often in conjunction with senior City business representatives. The Lord Mayor lives in the Mansion House for the Mayoral year.