Davao City will be establishing a Sister City relationship with Sennan City, Japan early next year.
This, after the signing of the Memorandum of Intent (MOI) on Tuesday.
Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte on November 29 met with Sennan City Mayor Yumamoto Yuma for a courtesy call and a signing of MOI to establish relations.
Davao City Investment and Promotion Center (DCIPC) head April Marie Dayap, in an interview with the City Information Office on Tuesday, said both leaders discussed the possibility of exploring education, tourism and investment, cultural exchange and people-to-people cooperation
Dayap said the Davao City International Relations Board has approved the sister-city agreement between Davao City and Sennan City on November 15, but interests in establishing deeper relations between the cities began as early as 2019.
“Ganahan kaayo si Mayor Yuma sa Davao considering that it’s very safe, and he feels very warmly welcomed dinhi and ang pagpadagan sa atong city under the leadership of our mayor. Mao tong gusto nila i-pursue ang sister city talks (Mayor Yuma really likes Davao considering it is very safe and he feels very warmly welcomed here, as well as the leadership of our mayor. That is why they pursued the sister-city talks),” Dayap said.
The council is set to grant Legislative Authority to the mayor within the month, Dayap said.
“Since the Memorandum of Intent has already been signed and the agreement has already been approved by the International Relations Board, we hope to have the ordinance authorizing the city mayor to sign the sister city relationship from the city council, hopefully by next week,” Dayap said.
“The MOI is already a great manifestation na naa na gyud sister city mahitabo (a sister-city relations will be established). Very sincere ang Sennan City since they initiated such kind of relationship,” she added.
Dayap said the city is bound to benefit from the sister-city relationship, especially in exploring joint ventures in education, tourism and people-to-people investment.
“We have the commitment of the mayor of Sennan City na he will not only promote Davao City in Sennan, but he will promote Davao City in Osaka Prefecture and also Japan as a whole,” Dayap said.
“Dako kaayo siyang tabang sa atoa (This is really a big help for us) in terms of promotions because we really want to promote Davao City as an investment hub and as a tourism hub,” she added.
Once the Sister-City Agreement is signed, Sennan will be the 22nd sister-city of Davao. CIO
