July 13, 2015
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter will head to Germany Tuesday for the first half of a weeklong trip abroad to help build international relationships for the city, Philadelphia Business Journal reports.
Nutter plans to sign a “sister city” agreement with Frankfurt, which is considered the largest financial center in continental Europe. It is also among the biggest in the world.
Sister cities are a form of legal and social agreement between two cities that developed after World War II to foster friendship between different cultures and encourage trade and tourism. But in recent years, the relationships have been used to form strategic international business links.
Philadelphia’s largest law firm, Morgan Lewis & Bockius, established an office in Frankfurt 25 years ago. In addition to the firm's connection linking Philadelphia and Frankfurt, there are daily direct flights between the two cities.
Some of Philadelphia’s other sister cities include Florence, Italy (1964); Torun, Poland (1976) and Incheon, Korea (1983).
Nutter will then continue on to Tel Aviv, Israel, on Friday for three days, according to Philadelphia Business Journal.
The Tel Aviv visit is the latest international trip by Nutter with a specific goal of opening business channels between Philadelphia and other countries. He's also touched down in Brazil, Italy and the United Kingdom.
The mayor will meet with some tech companies, as well as some representatives from Israeli life sciences. Nutter traveled to Tel Aviv in 2013, where he met with former Israel President Shimon Peres.
