Sir Sadiq Khan is set to attend the “world’s leading real estate event” on the French Riviera.
The BBC reports that the mayor will in March join the annual MIPIM conference at Cannes.
Previous mayors Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone were both regular attendees at the four-day event, but Sir Sadiq has never gone before - and has instead tended to send one of his deputies.
The conference offers the chance to network with some of the world’s biggest property developers and to discuss investment opportunities in London and other global cities.
City Hall said it had no comment on the BBC’s report. Sir Sadiq joining the event for the first time could however be read as a demonstration of his commitment to the Labour Government’s agenda of “kickstarting economic growth”, with ministers placing a strong focus on house-building to unlock that growth.
As of the end of last year, Sir Sadiq was thought to have made 18 foreign trips as mayor. With his trip to Poland this week accounted for, travelling to Cannes would mark his 20th official trip abroad. He is also planning to travel to Africa soon. Sir Sadiq points out that his predecessor, Mr Johnson, made 37 international visits in total.
Last year’s MIPIM conference was attended by Jules Pipe, London’s deputy mayor for planning and regeneration, where he accepted almost £550 in speaking fees at various dinners.
According to his register of gifts and hospitality, the deputy mayor received about £243 for speaking at two dinners hosted by the business lobbying group BusinessLDN, and then received a further £300 for speaking at a dinner hosted by the Berkeley Group, a major British developer.
MIPIM stands for Le Marché International des Professionnels de l'Immobilier, or The International Market for Real Estate Professionals.
Speaking at the conference in 2014, the then-Mayor of London Mr Johnson joked that MIPIM could in fact be short for ‘May I push you in the Med?’ or ‘Meet me in the pool in a minute?’, given the amount of lobbying that takes place there. He declared however that, to his mind, it stands for ‘Making important property investments for millions of Londoners on modest incomes’.
MIPIM’s organisers boast that the event is attended each year by over 20,000 delegates from 90 countries, who include among them investors managing a total of €4 trillion in assets. Tickets to attend the event start at €870 euros, with more premium levels of access offered at prices of up to €3,190.
This year’s conference will be opened by Mario Draghi, the former Italian prime minister and European Central Bank president.
Speakers from local government in the UK will include Hounslow Council’s Labour leader Shantanu Rajawat, Liverpool City Council’s Labour leader Liam Robinson, and Belfast City Council’s chief executive, John Walsh.
