County Officials Celebrate Partnership With Four Sister Cities (VIDEO)
Montgomery County officials, Montgomery Sister Cities board members, and county residents attended the first meeting that brought together people representing each of the county’s sister cities.
The event took place at the Rockville Memorial Library on Jan. 13, where people had the chance to share accomplished projects as a result of each partnership and plans for the future.
“It provides us a greater knowledge of people from around the world and opportunities to make connections both from a culture point of view, human contact point of view, but also from economic development point of view. We have a number of business that are clearly at the forefront of making contacts around the world. Our trips have enhanced those opportunities,” said Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett.
Montgomery County has established partnerships with Morazán in El Salvador, Gondar in Ethiopia, Xi’an in China, and Hyderabad in India.
The mission is to encourage friendship and cooperation through education, humanitarian, cultural, and economic exchanges, according to the Montgomery Sister Cities website.
Montgomery County business delegation visited El Salvador in 2011, Ethiopia in 2012, China in 2013, and India in 2014.
“This is incredible how great this cities are; now we gotta do the hard work. This is phase two. This meeting tonight was the kick off to ‘Now, what are we gonna do? Are we gonna help El Salvador get that community college?'” said Bruce Adams, director of the Montgomery County Office of Community Partnerships.
According to the Montgomery Sister Cities website, the Sister Cities committee, in partnership with the Association for the Educational Development for El Salvador, have sent medical equipment and educational supplies to Morazán with an estimated value of $22,500. In China, an immediate result was the commitment from Beijing-based China Fortune Land Development (CFLD) to make a financial investment into the Rockville-based public-private partnership, BioHealth Innovation, Inc. While in India, the signing of a MOU between Montgomery College officials and O.P. Jindal Global University located in Raipur will allow 15 faculty members to study and teach in India.
During the event, attendees got a copy of a report that shows six years of work between the county and four sister cities.
“In the twenty first century we want our kids to understand what it means to be a global citizen,” Adams said.
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