Manchester must look to the east.

Many moons ago I came to Manchester, home of both red and blue teams, home of innovation, industry and the industrial revolution, home of the very first computer, and home or maybe the birth place to many many globally important cultural cultures, I came here because I believed that Manchester could be the start of something once again.

Some ten years on.... I am I so sure?

Well, Chancellor George Osborne has called on Manchester to lead the UK in what he has termed the "second industrial revolution". A term I am sure someone has used before... but anyway.

Speaking at the launch of the Manchester-China Forum on Friday (26 April 2013), he said the city had a real opportunity to "do something strategic for our economy for decades to come" as it seeks to build closer links with the Far East.

"I am absolutely passionate about trying to improve and increase the economic links between our country and China," he said.
"Manchester was the first industrial city in the world; it led an economic revolution that transformed our entire planet.
"We are now in the midst of a second industrial revolution; a shift in economic power to the East and South, and I want Manchester to lead, for our country. "The British government will be 100 per cent behind this."

Now for whatever reasons I am not always 100% behind what the government says - but this is something I can very much get behind.

As myself I went to study the South East Asian region last year for several months last year. And I have also been to Hong Kong and China with the UKti.

So the new Manchester-China Forum is an interesting proposal for me to be potentially involved in - as it is a business-led initiative aimed at increasing Greater Manchester's commercial connectivity, including trade and investment with China.

It follows a report by Lord Nat Wei in 2012 which identified China as a strategic priority for the city.

Lord Wei said at the event: "This country needs growth and cities have traditionally been the major way in which we grow.
"While Germany has made a living over the past 30 years by providing tools for China's manufacturing development, so we can now help to unlock the country's services and consumption sector, city by city.

"This forum recognises Manchester as the original industrial city which can be a source of growth in an advanced manufacturing age."

Lord Wei cited examples of the forum model in the US, which had helped cities to establish links in China over the past 20 years.
"If the city thrives and trades with China then businesses will thrive as well," he added.

The Manchester-China Forum is being chaired by Charlie Cornish, chief executive at Manchester Airports Group, and includes a raft of private and public sector partners across the city region.

It sounds like something everyone from Manchester should be involved in whether you are part of the digital mobile creative scene (what I like to call the advanced manufacturing sector) or part of the new Graphene and what everyone else calls the advanced manufacturing sector ;)

Either way - perhaps sticking around Manchester is no bad thing for a few more years yet.