Trade Visit to Marseille 19th – 23rd September 2018
Gerry MacDonagh led a highly successful Trade Visit to the French port city of Marseille. Marseille is France’s oldest and second largest city, founded by Greek traders 2,600 years ago. As is the case with many port cities, over the years it has had a rather chequered past but was European City of Culture in 2013 and since then some £500 million has been invested in museums, cultural centres and reclaiming abandoned water-fronts. It remains, nevertheless, a very lively and interesting multicultural city, fast acquiring a reputation as a place where style and history meet and now one of the most visited cities in France.
Twenty members of LSCC came on the visit, representing the following sectors:
Banking, Constuction, Corporate Intelligence & Security, Hotels & Catering, Law, Restaurants, Retailing, Satellite Communication, and Transport,
Through the Franco-British Chamber of Commerce, and with the assistance of UK consular officials in Marseille, meetings were arranged with complimentary local businesses, both suppliers and potential customers. A number of these were highly useful and contacts with the interested paries are now ongoing.
As always, our visit enabled members of the group to learn more about the city and region, and enjoy its culture in addition to exploring potential business opportunities. During the 4 days spent there, they were able to choose on an individual basis the daily emphasis they wished to place on business, culture, touring or simply relaxing and enjoying excellent local food.
This was the third Trade mission organised by LSCC in 2018. Previously that year, we had visited Cuba in February and to Belgrade in Serbia in May 2018. Visits planned for this year include Uzbekistan this month, Portugal in May, Albania & Kosovo in October.