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Philadelphia Welcomes British Diplomat

by Steve Tawa

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Mayor Kenney and the city of Philadelphia rolled out the red carpet for a British diplomat at the Ritz-Carlton.

Her visit was organized by the British American Business Council of Greater Philadelphia.

After the Mayor welcomed Her Majesty's Consul General in New York, Antonia Romeo discussed doing business on both sides of the Atlantic.

"Consider, for starters, that a million Brits work for American companies, and a million Americans work for British companies," said Romeo.

She told the audience it's been a momentous year, summed up with one word: Brexit.

"This is a new chapter for Britain, of course, and there will be opportunities and challenges ahead," she said.

Antonia Romeo
Her Majesty's Consul General in New York, Antonia Romeo, speaks. (credit: Steve Tawa)

She says when the UK leaves the European Union, it will "be an agreement between an independent, sovereign UK and the E-U."

"We want that relationship to reflect the kind of mature, cooperative relationship that very close friends and strong allies enjoy," Romeo said.

"Of all of the 50 states, Pennsylvania is the largest trading partner with the UK," said Rhett Workman, an American Airlines executive and chairman of the British American Business Council of Greater Philadelphia.

More than 1500 UK-based companies employ more than 53,000 jobs across the Commonwealth.

Some of the larger British employers in Philadelphia include Aberdeen International, Bartlett and Company, British Airways, GlaxoSmithKline, HSBC, and Virgin Atlantic.

The United States and the United Kingdom are each other's largest investors, together they have about $1 trillion invested in each other's economies.

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