Latest Nutter itinerary: Frankfurt, Tel Aviv

Mayor Nutter plans to travel to Germany on Tuesday to sign a "sister city" agreement with the mayor of Frankfurt, the first such pact Philadelphia has entered since 1992. From there he is scheduled to head to Tel Aviv, which signed its own sister-city agreement with Philadelphia in 1967.

The six-day trip is part of an ongoing effort to draw international business interest to Philadelphia and, in Israel, to court companies that could base their U.S. headquarters in Philadelphia.

"We've made it a priority to have Philadelphia become a more international global city," said Luke Butler, chief of staff to Nutter's deputy mayor for economic development, and a member of the delegation leaving Tuesday. "We wanted to be seen as a place that's welcoming to international companies and residents and visitors."

Sister-city agreements, of which Philadelphia has seven, are meant to promote economic, educational, and governmental opportunities for both cities. The agreement between Philadelphia and Frankfurt comes after more than a year of talks between Nutter and Frankfurt Mayor Peter Feldmann.

"Frankfurt is an incredible global city," Butler said. "We have a lot of similarities in terms of the sectors where we're strong, like life sciences and biotech."

In addition to signing the sister-city agreement, Nutter is to meet with about 60 business leaders in Frankfurt, a city of about 690,000 in a metro area of about 2.5 million.

On Friday, the mayor is due in Tel Aviv, where he last visited in November 2013. City officials said that since that trip, five Israeli businesses have decided to set up offices in Philadelphia.

Executives from those companies, along with Nutter, will be meeting with other business leaders to talk about the city's merits, Butler said.

"We want to have those companies tell their stories to their peers, explain why they chose Philadelphia, and then, hopefully, build on that and have more companies coming over here," Butler said.

Nutter is scheduled to return to Philadelphia on July 20. He has gone on a half-dozen overseas trade missions since 2011.

215-854-2730@TriciaNadolny