Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) and Ivory Coast’s San Pedro City Mayor Keita Nakaridja Epse Cisse yesterday signed a sister-city agreement.
San Pedro is Ivory Coast’s second-largest economic zone and the world’s largest cocoa bean export seaport. It has become Kaohsiung’s 41st sister city.
The agreement marked significant progress in the relationships between Taiwan and African countries since the Ministry of Foreign Affairs resumed the operations of its representative office in Ivory Coast in 2022, which was made possible by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) when he served as representative to France.
Photo: Wang Jung-hsiang,Taipei Times
Chen said that San Pedro is a city with great development potential.
Kaohsiung and San Pedro are port cities, and the two city governments can cooperate and form partnerships on youth education, culture and other issues, he said.
“Between the two cities, we have the ocean in common, and freedom is a value we share,” Chen said. “Through the sister-city agreement, we can jointly create partnerships on various issues and deepen Taiwan-Africa relations.”
Chen discussed with Cisse Kaohsiung’s experiences in attracting investments from high-tech industry and transforming the city into a base for semiconductor and innovation industries. He presented measures that the city has taken to reach the goal of zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The two cities can have extensive exchanges on issues of port management, smart transportation and agricultural technology, he said.
Cisse gave a presentation on San Pedro and diverse industries in the city.
She also expressed hope that the sister-city agreement would help form partnerships on city governance and culture.
Cisse yesterday also visited Pier 2 Art Center and French classes at Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages.
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