Jinja city signs cooperation agreement with chinese city of shenyang

Jinja , Uganda |  THE INDEPENDENT |  Jinja City has finalized the signing of a cooperation agreement with the Chinese city of Shenyang that will promote common prosperity and development of the two cities.

This comes after only four months of being declared a city by government. According to the five-year agreement document that was signed on behalf of Jinja by Mayor Titus Kisambira, the two parties will carry out exchanges and cooperation in the fields of the economy, trade, science and technology, culture, education, sports and health among other sectors, to promote development.

The two cities also agreed to maintain contact between the leaders and relevant departments to facilitate consultations on the exchanges and cooperation as well as matters of common concern.

The official signing ceremony took place at Parliament witnessed by the Speaker Rebecca Kadaga who is also the patron of the Busoga consortium for development. The Chinese Ambassador to Uganda Zhuqiang Zheng and the Mayor of Shenyang Jiang Youwei both joined the event via ZOOM video conferencing. Also present was the Minister for Local Government Raphael Magyezi.

Kisambira noted that Jinja has already profiled the economic potential of Busoga region and is ready to enter into agreements with the Chinese for value addition and market in the sectors of agriculture and minerals.

He adds that Jinja and Busoga region has allocated thousands of acres of land for industrial development and is working with the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) to service the industrial parks to make it conducive for Chinese who have the capital to invest in agro processing and minerals.

Kisambira is optimistic that the new relationship will usher in a new era of cooperation that is based on mutual trust and common values.

Minister Magyezi praised Jinja City for taking bold steps and showing determination of the city leadership to forge local and international partnerships for the good of the people hardly four months since achieving city status.

He notes that given its rich history, Jinja has a lot to offer and urged Shenyang to support Jinja in the areas of city planning, city infrastructure, city management and environment protection.

Magyezi promised government support in terms of human and financial resources to the new cities and local governments to enable them to play an active part in the partnership.

Speaker Kadaga appreciated the Chinese government for walking with and supporting Uganda since independence saying that the cooperation was a product of a long term relationship between China and Africa.

“I have not been to Shenyang city but I appreciate the history and development of the city. Jinja City also has a deep history. I believe that the development of the two cities will benefit both the people of the two countries. I believe and know that this cooperation has a lot to offer and therefore deserves full support of Parliament and government,” said Kadaga.

Kadaga added that she looks forward to seeing more Chinese airlines in Ugandan airspace to facilitate this partnership now that the airport has been opened and she applauded the Local Government Minister for pledging support to the other nine cities to develop similar partnerships.

Jiang Youwei, the Mayor of Shenyang City noted that Uganda and China enjoy good relationship pledging continued support towards the cooperation.

He noted that China has in the recent years had several exchange programs with Uganda in the area of medical, education and sports development and that they have all had fruitful outcomes. He said that the new cooperation will open doors for the two countries.

In his remarks, the Chinese Ambassador to Uganda Zheng Zhu Qiang pledged support to the cooperation also noting that a number of Chinese are already doing business in Uganda and the new relationship shows that the future is bright.

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URN