Today sees the beginning of the long awaited 2012 Olympic games and as the worlds athletes prepare to compete for glory the UKs Businessmen and Politicians are competing in their own event, Drumming up business.
Yesterday the British Prime Minister David Cameron launched the country’s biggest attempt to use the global stage offered by the Olympics to persuade global business’s to invest in the country. The PM pulled out all the stops worthy of a Gold medal winning performance at the newly launched British Business Embassy in the heart of London. He wheeled out all the big economic players in his bid to drum up interest in the struggling UK economy. The head of the IMF Christine Lagarde was there, as was Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank who would have won the Gold medal for boosting the Euro after his impassioned speech on doing all in his power to save the Euro.
As well as those leaders we saw some giants of global business such as Sir Martin Sorrell the head of WPP and Eric Schmidt from Google. The PM said in his speech; “As we welcome the world’s best athletes, we also welcome the world’s best companies,” said the Chancellor George Osborne, announcing the event, “so that they can succeed, invest and create jobs in Britain.”
The Olympics will provide the UK a perfect opportunity to generate some extra foreign business in a bid to bolster the country’s flagging economy. The leaders of the world’s nations are making an appearance including the leaders of the burgeoning developing BRIC nations of Brazil, Russia, India and China. The government will also be focusing a lot of attention on the various business leaders providing them with the best seats at the popular events and the finest canapés.
The three week charm offensive will try and boost the UK’s appeal for foreign investment and attempt to restore the countries reputation as the best nation in Europe to invest in. Many UK citizens will be hoping that the successes off the sporting fields will match the victories on the fields.
New jobs and inflows of cash will be hoped for if the country is to drag itself out of the double-dip and back to growth. It remains to be seen whether the Olympics will see the UK wreathed in shiny Gold and wealth or the rusting tones of Bronze and continued recession.
The Pound to Euro exchange rate is currently trading at 1.280
The Pound to US Dollar exchange rate is currently trading at 1.569
The Pound to Australian Dollar exchange rate is currently trading at 1.506
The Euro to US Dollar exchange rate is currently trading at 1.225
The Euro to Pound exchange rate is currently trading at 0.780
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