Sir Bob Harvey - new Auckland champion

Sir Bob Harvey. Photo / Lynda Feringa

A week after Auckland Council hosed down Sir Bob Harvey's claim he was the new ambassador for the Super City, mayor Len Brown has welcomed the former Waitakere mayor's appointment to the role.

Last Friday Sir Bob announced on breakfast television that he'd been appointed to a council role, which would involve overseas investment.

But within minutes of the announcement, a mayoral spokesman said there had only been "discussions" about him taking on the new job.

Today the council announced Sir Bob, who has stepped down as chairman of the council-controlled organisation Waterfront Auckland, was named 'Champion for Auckland - overseas investment' by the council.

He will take up the role next month, and will be responsible for promoting Auckland internationally and facilitating "international investment opportunities".

The role of foreign investment is largely overseen by Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (Ateed), which has a former senior executive, Grant Jenkins, based in London, and a staff member, Pam Ford, based in San Francisco with New Zealand Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Ateed also has an officer, Edwina Mason, based in Melbourne to secure conferences for the city.

In the first term of the Super City, councillor and Olympian Sir John Walker was appointed by Mayor Len Brown as the city ambassador.

In his role, Sir Bob will also support Auckland's mayor in building the an economic alliance between Auckland, Los Angeles and Guangzhou and will lead the council's bid for the Lee Kuan Yew World Cities Prize, which last year went to Suzhou, China and New York in 2012.

In his five years at Waterfront Auckland, Sir Bob helped secure nearly $1 billion of private investment into the area including a $200 million investment by Beijing-based Fu Wah International Group in a hotel to be built in the Wynyard Quarter.

He also oversaw the $120m spent on the waterfront before the 2011 Rugby World Cup, which included the first stages of revitalising the Wynyard Quarter and the re-opening of Queens Wharf to the public.

He was Mayor of Waitakere for 18 years, has been deputy chairman of the New Zealand Film Commission and Spark Foundation, and served on the boards of Te Papa and the Aotea Centre Trust.