 Minister Ida Chong's
Mission Journal
Day 3 — November 21
The Province of British Columbia and the
People's Government of Guangdong Province, People's
Republic of China signed a Memorandum of Understanding
Nov. 21 for
Supporting the Establishment of Robust Twinning
Relationships between Local Governments in their
respective provinces.
Signing for the Province of British Columbia is
Community Services Minister Ida Chong. Signing for
the Province of Guangdong is Mr. Fu Lang, Director
General, Foreign Affairs Office, People's Government
of Guangdong Province.
Left to right in the picture is Mayor Alan Lowe of
the City of Victoria, Tim Coughlin, Consul-General
for the Government of Canada based in Guangzhou, Mr.
Wang Shitong, Deputy Director General, Foreign
Affairs Office and Mr. Lin Lin, Deputy Director
General, Overseas Chinese Affairs Bureau, Guangdong
Provincial Government.
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British Columbia's
Community Services Minister Ida Chong and Mr. Fu
Lang, Director General, Foreign Affairs Office,
People's Government of Guangdong Province at the
signing ceremony Nov. 21. The new
agreement will commit B.C. and Guangdong to work
with their local governments to establish
successful twinning relationships that promote
economic and cultural opportunities.
The two provinces
established a sister-province relationship on
Sept. 7, 1995, committing to co-operation in
economic, cultural, trade and technology,
education, sports, public health, personnel and
other areas.
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Journal entry
for Nov. 21
We left Suzhou early Tuesday morning
headed to Guangzhou via Shanghai airport. Due to a
delayed departure from Shanghai and therefore late
arrival in Guangzhou, it meant our day was very
compressed. However, the most important event that
was scheduled took place immediately upon our
arrival, and that was the signing of a major
initiative with respect to 'twinning opportunities.'
I was pleased to meet with Mr. Fu
Lang, the Director General of Foreign Affairs,
Guangdong Province, to discuss the strong sister
province relationship British Columbia and Guangdong
enjoy. I was encouraged by his remarks that there
were still areas of mutual interest that can be
explored, to benefit our mutual citizens. We then
went on to sign the MOU protocol — Memorandum of
Understanding for Supporting the Establishment of
Economically Robust Twinning Relationships Between
Local Government —which heralds a significant
enhancement to the existing sister province
relationship with the People’s Government of
Guangdong Province.
In 2005, Premier Gordon Campbell
hosted the Governor of Guangdong and his 600-person
strong delegation in British Columbia, on the 10th
anniversary of the protocol between the two
provinces declaring them sister-provinces. The
Memorandum of Understanding I signed today opens
doors for British Columbia local governments who
wish to explore the potential of the wealthiest
province in China with over 80 million people and a
gross domestic product twice that of British
Columbia’s.
During every meeting with local
government officials here, environmental protection
and stewardship has been indicated as a strong
priority. Leading up to the Beijing Olympics in 2008
and Shanghai World Expo in 2010 (Better City-Better
Life), British Columbia’s environmental industry
sector is poised to take advantage of opportunities in
the massive Chinese market.
Although British Columbia’s local
governments do not have the population
characteristics of those in Guangdong Province, we
certainly have the entrepreneurial spirit, the
innovative energy and the creative potential to
succeed here. Establishing local government-to-local
government relationships are critical first steps to
opening doors for business-to-business relationships
to follow.
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