Philadelphia Mayor Nutter's World Tour Stops in Israel, Germany to Promote Sister City Partnerships

Philadelphia's world-traveling mayor is off to Germany and Israel, just days after returning from an official trip to Mexico.

Mayor Michael Nutter's office says he'll fly to Frankfurt on Tuesday and arrive in Tel Aviv on Friday before returning to Philadelphia on July 21.

Philadelphia has been campaigning to become the first World Heritage City in the U.S.

Nutter is expected to sign a sister city agreement with Frankfurt. The financial hub, whose mayor visited Philadelphia last summer, is Philadelphia's first new Sister City in 23 years.

“Frankfurt is one of the world’s great global cities and I am proud that Philadelphia will now count this great German city among its closest partners,” said Nutter. “Frankfurt joins the ranks of Philadelphia’s Sister Cities, one of which is Tel Aviv and with which we have developed a very close relationship resulting in a number of Israeli companies choosing Philadelphia for their U.S. base. These trade missions help to raise Philadelphia’s international profile and send the message that Philadelphia is a welcoming city for innovative, international companies.”

Nutter will meet in Tel Aviv with companies interested in establishing U.S. operations with the help of Israeli firms that already committed to opening Philadelphia offices.

The trip's costs will be covered by outside groups, including a Philadelphia business development organization.