On May 17-19, 2011, the fourth Summit of friendly cities in the BRIC countries was held, that, according to the tradition of succession, was hosted by Qingdao (China).
On May 17-19, 2011, the fourth Summit of friendly cities in the BRIC countries was held, that, according to the tradition of succession, was hosted by Qingdao (China).
Proactive role in establishing the mechanism of the quadripartite partnership of the cities of BRIC group, which unites St.Petersburg, Rio de Janeiro, Qingdao, and Mumbai, belongs to St.Petersburg. Since 2008, the Northern Capital hosted annual official meetings of representatives of the governments of cities, international scientific conferences, exhibitions, and round tables.
BRIC-2011 summit participants were senior officials of Qingdao, headed by Mayor Xia Gen; the Indian delegation was headed by Subodh Kumar, Municipal Commissioner of Greater Mumbai; from the Brazilian side, involved was Tatiana Rosito, a special representative of the Prefect of Rio de Janeiro.
St.Petersburg was represented by Roman Filimonov, Vice-Governor, who highly esteemed the organization of the event and highlighted its importance and relevance: “during the BRIC summit at the highest level in China in April 2011, the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, and China gave a positive assessment of the experience of interaction of the partner cities recognized as one of the promising areas of cooperation within the BRIC”.
The parties discussed the ways to expand partnerships in such areas of the quadripartite interaction as the economic cooperation, cooperation in the industries, investments, culture, education, tourism, and urban development.
During the summit, a ceremony took place of laying the first stone of the investment project “Brick Plaza”, designed to combine the architectural traditions of St.Petersburg, Qingdao, Mumbai, and Rio de Janeiro.
In his greeting speech, Roman Filimonov said that the initiative of Qingdao would be a model for the rest of the friendly towns of BRIC, and in the near future similar ceremony would take place in other countries.
After the meeting, the parties signed a memorandum following the negotiations, that outlined the main directions of work for the year to come.
The next summit of friendly cities in the new enlarged BRICS, with the expected participation of Cape Town (South Africa), is scheduled for the second half of 2012 in Mumbai.
News Source: St.Petersburg Committee for External Relations