County Mayor Declan Hurley was part of a Cork delegation in China last week, where he promoted the region as a tourist destination and business base.
COUNTY Mayor Declan Hurley was part of a Cork delegation in China last week, where he promoted the region as a tourist destination and business base.
Mayor Hurley, along with Cork County Council chief executive Tim Lucey undertook the Mayor’s annual visit to partner region Jiangsu which is located on the eastern coast of China, has a population of 80m and also has the second highest GDP of the Chinese provinces.
During the visit the Mayor signed a memorandum on the establishment of sistership with the governor of Jiangsu Province.
This is a bilateral agreement which expresses a shared ambition to co-operate on economic development, science, technology, culture, sport, health, education and tourism issues, to promote two-way exchanges between both regions and to build on the good relationship that have been established during earlier exchanges.
During the visit the Mayor and chief executive also promoted Cork as a tourism destination as well as a potential base for Chinese companies operating in the life sciences, smart technology and agri-tech sectors who are planning to expand into the European market.
Mayor Hurley said: ‘Signing the Sistership Agreement with the Governor of Jiangsu is a significant milestone in the development of a strong relationship between our two regions.’
Mr. Lucey added: ‘This official visit underlines the growing awareness of Cork in China and is building on our on-going exchanges with Jiangsu and the governments expanding trade relationships with China.’
The delegation also included Cllr Frank O’Flynn, Cllr Seamus McGrath and three officials.
