London, Paris aim for closer ties despite Brexit

PARIS

The mayor of London Sadiq Khan has vowed on Thursday to strengthen ties with Paris following the EU referendum result in favor of a Brexit, as he met his Paris counterpart Anne Hidalgo in the French capital.

Part of his "London is open" campaign, the trip to the French capital is Khan's first international visit since he came to office in May.

He was invited by Hidalgo as a guest of honor to mark the anniversary of the liberation of Paris from Nazi forces in 1944 at the Hotel de Ville, the Paris City Hall.

“London and Paris are two of the greatest commercial and cultural cities in the world and we have much to gain from working even closer together post-referendum,” Khan said at a joint press conference with Hidalgo at the Halle Freyssinet, a tech start-up incubator expected to open in 2017.

“We have a thriving French community in London, who make a massive contribution to the economy and the vibrancy of our city, and I want to reassure them that they’ll always be welcome.

“I’m here in Paris to make it clear that London is open -- open to the world, open to trade, open for new business ventures and collaborations, open to new ideas, new talent and people,” Khan added.

Hidalgo said the two capitals enjoyed a "win-win partnership that has to be made even stronger".

London’s first Muslim mayor also said he was working to ensure “London remains the best place in the world to do business” following the EU referendum result.

Cooperation between counterterrorism police, tackling pollution and improving public health also topped the two mayors’ talks.