Durban — The City of eThekwini has signed a memorandum of understanding with the City of Xaimen in China to strengthen ties and ensure mutual cooperation for the next five years.
EThekwini Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda and Vice Mayor of Xaimen Zhuang Rongliang confirmed the establishment of sister-city relations between the two cities.
The signing ceremony took place at the Durban City Hall on Tuesday where the representatives agreed to cooperate in several fields of interest including the economy, trade, ports, culture, sports, health, and education.
This is in accordance with the principles of the Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between South Africa and China.
Kaunda said he was excited to formally establish a partnership between the two cities.
“The signing of the memorandum of understanding comes at an important time when South Africa and all the BRICS countries have concluded a successful BRICS Summit. Through the BRICS Summit, the relations between South Africa and China have been enhanced. Therefore, this visit and the signing of the MOU today will further strengthen this important partnership,” said Mayor Kaunda.
He said the partnership will enhance relations and facilitate information and knowledge sharing, good practice, and innovation in all aspects of service delivery and governance.
Some of the other sister cities of eThekwini are New Orleans, Oran, Rio de Janeiro, Antwerp, Bremen, Chicago, Antwerp, Bremen, Bulawayo and Chicago.
Rongliang described the agreement as mutually beneficial to both cities.
“We are one of the fastest-growing cities. Our city offers a wide range of growth prospects for foreign investors. We are excited to have established this collaboration with eThekwini for the next five years,” said Rongliang.
This agreement comes after the Invest Durban deputy head, Russell Curtis heralded Durban as the most viable and most lucrative of investor paradises, at the beginning of the year.
He said the City had the largest number of Southern African domestic tourists who chose Durban as their tourism destination because of its strategic location as a port city.
“As much as we are a secondary city in South African terms, we feel we are the most sustainable city. We have a good spread of sectors across primary, secondary and tertiary sectors, so there are a lot of suppliers, a lot of professional service organisations and potential markets for investors to find. So these are all hits of what we would like to pitch to the investors,” Curtis said.
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