PARIS, FRANCE – Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and a delegation of members of the City Council and other civic leaders highlighted small business growth and strengthened international ties today in Paris as they work towards preparing Los Angeles to host the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
EDs: Click here for B-Roll and photos from Day 1 of the delegation trip.
“Today we took substantive and tangible steps toward preparing Los Angeles to host the 2028 Games in a way that will benefit Los Angeles in the years leading up to the Olympics and the decades following,” said Mayor Karen Bass. “We will continue to deliver for Los Angeles.”
Hours after arriving in Paris in the afternoon, the Mayor and the delegation met with and participated in the following:
The delegation met with United States Ambassador Denise Campbell Bauer and received a brief from the United States Deputy Chief of Mission and the Attaché of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games for updates regarding political, economic, safety and consular affairs.
The delegation met with Mayor Anne Hidalgo and her leadership team in Paris’s City Hall to hear about her agenda for the Paris 2024 Games, and how the City of Los Angeles can generate business development and learn from innovative housing, green transportation and infrastructure projects to prepare Los Angeles ahead of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Mayor Hidalgo has been Mayor of Paris since 2014, the first woman to hold that office.
The delegation discussed proposals and priorities with more than 20 business leaders to generate business development and bolster small business growth and bring Parisian success to Los Angeles. In a roundtable discussion with French companies, the delegation touched on transportation, sustainability, sports and technology sectors and encouraged and discussed possibilities to invest in Los Angeles. Business France is an agency of the French Government with a mission to foster the business relationships of France worldwide. The agency opened a full office in Los Angeles this January.
The delegation was hosted at Ambassador Bauer’s official Residence for a celebration of sports, diversity and inclusion. Ambassador Bauer welcomed guests from across Europe, and representatives from Warner Bros. Discovery, owner of broadcast rights for the Games in Europe, just as NBC is the owner of broadcast rights for the Games in the United States. The Ambassador also hosted French athletes, government and business leaders, noting Paris 2024’s achievement as the first Games in history with gender parity in its sports program.
Mayor Bass is leading the delegation to generate business development, bolster small business growth with knowledge from Paris and learn from innovative housing, green transportation and infrastructure projects to prepare Los Angeles ahead of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The delegation will continue to meet with French officials, dignitaries and business leaders to see how Paris is preparing for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games ahead of the Games’ start at the end of July.
The delegation includes Council President Paul Krekorian, Councilmember Traci Park, Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, LA Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins, LA84 Foundation President and CEO Renata Simril and Priscilla Cheng, Senior Vice President for Government Relations at LA28. All three Councilmembers sit on the Ad Hoc Committee for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Councilmembers Park and Yaroslavsky serve as Chair and Vice-Chair, respectively and President Krekorian was a member of the Ad Hoc Committee when the host city contract was signed. Mayor Bass served as a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs for 12 years and has led many international delegations.
Mayor Bass will return on Sunday, March 10. As the Mayor of Los Angeles, Host City for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Mayor Bass has been invited to have an official role alongside Paris Mayor Hidalgo in the Closing Ceremonies of the Paris 2024 Games.