Birmingham will be pitched as a "can do" city that is ready and able to help relieve the pressures on London and the South-east during a ministerial visit today.
The city's business community will tell Cabinet Minister David Miliband the region is the "logical overspill" location for the overcrowded capital and its surroundings.
They will highlight Birmingham's achievement in re-inventing itself while calling on the Government to give it the "right tools" to speed the pace of tackling problems like transport.
The presentation, by Birmingham's Chamber of Commerce and Industry, is intended to put the West Midlands at the forefront of the race for major investment in the regions.
Jerry Blackett, policy director for the BCCI, said: "There is a competition on at the moment. Miliband is visiting eight core cities of which Birmingham is one.
"The Government is disenchanted with the economic progress of regions. It feels we haven't cracked this yet.
"Out of the eight cities they will only seriously work with two or three. We want the Minister to go away with a real sense of confidence in this region."
Mr Miliband will spend all day in the West Midlands talking to political leaders, business representatives and young people about their hopes and ambitions. The Minister - a key adviser to Tony Blair - recently said Birmingham was still failing to reach the " premier league" of European cities.
But Mr Blackett claimed developments like the International Convention Centre, the NEC and Brindleyplace proved it was a city that could deliver.
During a lunch meeting at St Philip's Chambers in Temple Row, the chamber's president Ian Squires will claim existing mechanisms for local governance are too slow. He will look to Mr Miliband to explain how the decision-making process can be devolved and streamlined.
