Kota Kinabalu: City Hall (DBKK) expressed its commitment to enhance cooperation with Changsha City in China through the proposed implementation of a Friendship City initiative.
Mayor Datuk Seri Dr Sabin Samitah said this matter was discussed with a delegation from Changsha City during their courtesy visit led by Lu Xingying, the Deputy Secretary-General of Changsha Municipal People’s Government, on Tuesday.
Lu was joined by Li Xiangyue, Deputy Executive Director of the Changsha Municipal Performance Management Office; Du Xianghui, Deputy Director of Changsha Municipal Housing and Rural Development Bureau; Liu Fang, Vice President of Changsha People’s Association For Friendship With Foreign Countries and Wu Sha, Division Chief of Changsha Municipal People’s Government Foreign Affairs Office.
Sabin said the proposed bilateral cooperation, which has been endorsed by the State Government, involves various initiatives, including economic development, sustainable urban development and climate management.
“We also hope to collaborate in tourism industry development, cultural heritage, expertise sharing and governance,” he said in a statement, Wednesday.
According to the statement, a DBKK delegation had previously paid a courtesy call on Gao Wengqi, Deputy Mayor of the Changsha Municipal People’s Government, on May 12 last year, for a preliminary discussion on the Friendship City proposal.
In the meeting, Lu also provided the introduction and latest development of Changsha City which is famous for its cultural heritage, tourism centre, modern machinery industry and so on.
Earlier, the delegation that arrived on Monday for a three-day visit to Kota Kinabalu visited several interesting locations around the city. Among them are visits to All Saints Secondary School (SM), Kota Kinabalu and Darau Wetland Eco Tourism.
Also present in the courtesy visit were Datuk Susan Chang and Dr Tan Su Haw who are Council Members of the Changsha People’s Association For Friendship With Foreign Countries (CPAFFC); as well as Datuk Frankie Liew and Tan Kok Jie from the Sabah China Chamber of Commerce.
