AN international magazine with ties to the Financial Times newspaper has named Limerick as a ‘European City of the Future’.

fDi magazine, an international news and foreign direct investment magazine published by fDi Intelligence, a specialist division of the Financial Times, named Limerick as one of the principal winners among the European Cities of the Future Awards for 2016/2017.

fDi Magazine’s biennial league tables have become a key benchmark of competitiveness and serve as a barometer of attractiveness for the many cities and regions that are proactively pitching themselves for inward investment.

Limerick was named European City of the Future in its population category and has been included in a list of top 10 European cities in its population category for Human Capital and Lifestyles.

It also included Limerick among the Top 10 Northern European Cities. The city was also runner-up in the population category for Business Friendliness, Economic Potential and FDI Strategy.

It was nominated by the local authority for the awards and Mayor Cllr Liam Galvin said “success in this prestigious annual awards scheme is testament to the council's ongoing good work with the likes of IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland in securing numerous significant investment projects in the 12-18 months including Uber, Dell, AMAX and viagogo.

“Limerick is continuing to demonstrate its ability to attract considerable FDI in comparison to other parts of this country and I am delighted that this fantastic achievement is now receiving international recognition which will further boost efforts to promote the city's attractiveness as an investment location,” he added.

Pat Daly of the council's economic development and planning department, said the local authority was "particularly pleased with its showing in the FDI Strategy category, as this element of the awards scheme gives recognition to the work being undertaken by European cities to attract foreign direct investment.

"In recent years, Limerick has emerged as an attractive investment location for businesses from inside and outside of Ireland. Ongoing investment has transformed the city centre with the arrival of more than 30 new retailers in the past 12 months. In the Limerick city region today there is more than 14,500 people working in 116 overseas companies.

"To capitalise on this progress, Limerick is investing over €1 billion in enterprise and investment infrastructure and targeting the delivery of 12,000 as part of the Limerick 2030 Vision: An Economic and Spatial Plan for Limerick," he added.