Portsmouth looks to establish trans-Atlantic trade links with Canadian ‘sister’ city

Businesses in the Portsmouth and wider Solent area are invited to join the free online event on Thursday, February 25 to learn about investment, trade and educational opportunities as the city looks to develop a new potential 'sister' city on the other side of the Atlantic.

City Council leader Gerald Vernon-Jackson said: ‘We chose Halifax as it’s naval city with a lot of similarities to Portsmouth. There was a British naval base in the city for hundreds of years. This is very much an exploratory meeting to look at what links we can develop between the two cities.’

The Royal Navy says it supports the initiative and highlighted a ‘long-standing relationship’ with the Canadian Navy which has seen Portsmouth play host to four Canadian ships in the last 12 months as well as welcoming HMCS St John’s to join the city for the D-Day 75 commemorations.

A Royal Navy spokesman said: ‘As one of our closest Nato allies we value our relationship with Halifax and regularly welcome Canadian warships here.’

A council delegation was due to visit Halifax but this was postponed due to Covid restrictions. Not to be beaten both councils decided to launch the Investment, Trade and Education Mission as a virtual online event.

The council hopes to build on existing links between the cities.

Cllr Vernon-Jackson said: ‘The relationship is already creating jobs in the city. BAE Systems is manufacturing parts for Canadian frigate ships and I expect this to develop even further with the production of torpedoes, radar and sonar equipment.

‘Hopefully by opening up this connection it can allow similar links to be established with other industries in Halifax and Canada.’

Other key areas of focus for the conference include the use of green and renewable energy and the development of cultural connections.

Cllr Vernon-Jackson added: ‘The initiative is about sharing expertise. Portsmouth has won numerous awards for its green initiatives. We have installed more solar panels than anywhere else in the country. We would like to share our ground-breaking green initiative with Canada and hopefully also get some new ideas from them.

‘As part of our development as a cruise destination we would also potentially like to develop tourism links between the two cities. A lot of people in both cities also work in digital industries and hopefully this is something we can develop.’

The venture follows on from recent initiatives which has seen the council establish a similar ‘sister’ city bond with Sylhet in Bangladesh, where many of Portsmouth's 10,000-strong Bangladeshi community have roots. The post-Brexit era has also seen the city look to develop links with China, including a sister city agreement with Zhanjiang.

The council’s cabinet member for culture, leisure and economic development, Steve Pitt, said: ‘This is all about developing business and cultural links. If you don’t explore other locations then you don’t know where it could lead.

‘Hopefully this can provide new connections following on from the relationship we have established with the Bangladesh Business Association.’

The University of Portsmouth and the council hope the relationship can provide a platform for student exchange programmes between the two universities as well as the collaboration of trans-Atlantic expertise.

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Chris Chang, pro vice-chancellor for global engagement and education partnerships said: ‘We’re proud to work in partnership with the city and its institutions to champion Portsmouth’s unique strengths and heritage to the world.‘Portsmouth is our home, but our ambition is to grow our global reach and impact with an established track record of worldwide collaboration in research, teaching and innovation.‘Our international profile, presence and reputation is growing all the time and we’re excited about exploring potential new opportunities between the two cities.‘We hope to establish international research collaborations that address key global issues and work with the best overseas researchers and institutions to enhance and complement our own research and innovation strengths.’

Professor Chang will be speaking at the online event along with Jennifer LaPlante from Dalhousie University, Cllr Vernon-Jackson and the mayor of Halifax, Mike Savage.

Cllr Vernon-Jackson added: ‘We know we have businesses and educational institutions in Portsmouth with loads to offer on the world's stage and we want to make that happen. This is your chance to meet like-minded people and get involved in a very exciting new offering for the city.

‘I'm excited to solidify our relationship with Halifax by bringing together some of the top business and education leaders in both cities and talk about how we can work together to boost our economy and our reputation internationally.’

You can register for the conference by going to the eventbrite website.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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