Chan (third right) in a photo call with Zou (fourth right) and others during the latter’s courtesy call.
KUCHING: A delegation from Kunming, Yunnan province in China is looking to enhance its ‘friendship’ union with Kuching as a way to boost tourism, trade and exchange of culture.
Led by Kunming Municipal Tourism Development Commission vice-director Zou Ke, the group arrived here yesterday for a one-day working visit under China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and paid a courtesy call on Mayor Datuk James Chan at the Kuching South City Council (MBKS) Complex.
According to Zou, his commission is visiting Kuching as it is one of Kunming’s ‘friendship cities’.
“We want to make a ‘friendship cities’ union happen following the Kunming International Friendship Cities Tourism Cooperation Conference we hosted last year.
“Along with the union will be the setting-up of a website and mobile app to promote tourism products of Kunming to its friendship cities, and vice versa,” he said.
Zou said his commission hoped to obtain tourism information and products on Kuching from the mayor in order to have them uploaded on the soon-to-be-set-up website.
He said they are also looking at inviting media members and corporations here to visit Kunming in the near future to better understand and promote both cities.
“Other than that, we hope to enhance the exchange of trade, culture and friendship among the ‘friendship cities’ of Kunming. We need something tangible to keep the relationship dynamic.”
Additionally, Zou said they also hope to set up a corresponding secretariat in Kuching to enhance the ties.
He said the commission welcomed any suggestion to see the successful establishment of the proposed corresponding secretariat.
He also described Kuching as a “clean and beautiful city” that shared similar characteristics with Kunming.
“We want to promote Kunming as a tourist destination to the people of Kuching. Once they are in Kunming, they can visit other parts of Yunnan as well as the whole of China,” he enthused.
Earlier, Chan extended appreciation to the delegation for stopping over in the city before flying off to Penang.
“The Penang government invited them to go there. Their decision to stop here on the way to Penang shows how strong our friendship and relationship is.”
He recalled having attended the Kunming International Friendship Cities Tourism Cooperation Conference 2017 during which he approached the city’s mayor, requesting help to maintain the Malaysia-China Friendship Park at Jalan Song here.
Chan described maintaining the Friendship park as an “intriguing job” and hence, MBKS could use some help from Kunming.
He also lauded the commission for being proactive in promoting Kunming’s tourism products to the world.
Chan thus hoped that direct flights between Kuching and Kunming could be looked into to further enhance collaboration among the people of both cities.