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Mayor Park bolsters European partnerships
Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon, left, and Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni signed an agreement to strengthen ties between the cities.
Genoa is Busan's first Italian friendship city.
Busan and Madrid establish a partnership.
Mayor Park at the UN Tourism Headquarters.
Busan is boosting its city diplomacy to become a global hub and enhance its reputation worldwide. Park Heong-joon, the mayor of Busan, endeavored to promote the city during his visits to three European cities－Genoa, Italy and Barcelona and Madrid in Spain－from May 19 to 24.
On May 20, Busan signed a friendship city agreement with Genoa, one of the largest port cities in Italy and a maritime hub on the Mediterranean Sea. This significant agreement marks Busan's first sister or friendly city relationship with Italy.
Genoa has long been a maritime powerhouse, as its port is one of the busiest in passenger and freight traffic. It is also a leading center of culture and sports, home to several UNESCO-listed buildings and two professional football teams.
Friendship and cooperation should come naturally to Busan and Genoa as both port cities share identities as centers of culture, tourism and sports. Busan has signed sister and friendship city agreements with 51 cities from 41 countries worldwide.
Then, on May 21, Busan and Barcelona signed the Declaration on Deepening the Sister City Relations Between Busan and Barcelona, an agreement to bolster their relationship. The two have been sister cities since October 1983 and cooperate across various sectors.
Barcelona is Spain's second-most-populous city, with 5.8 million people in its metropolitan area. It is a port city with robust logistics and passenger services, attracting around 10 million tourists annually.
In the agreement, Busan and Barcelona committed to upgrading their strategic partnership through effective and practical joint projects. Both cities will promote new joint businesses and expand cooperation in growth sectors such as digital transformation, art and cultural content, leveraging their strengths as major port cities with well-established tourism and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) industries.
On May 23, Mayor Park signed a letter of intent at the U.N. Tourism Headquarters in Madrid. The LOI marks Busan's commitment to U.N. Sustainable Development Goal 11: "Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable." According to the agreement, Busan and the U.N. agency will cooperate in sustainable city tourism, innovative activities, mutual studies, international conferences, meetings and education programs.
U.N. Tourism is the leading international organization that promotes tourism as a driver of economic growth, inclusive development and environmental sustainability. It has 160 member states that use tourism as an instrument to achieve the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, which aim to reduce poverty and foster sustainable development worldwide.
Finally, Busan hosted the Busan-Madrid Economic and Investment Cooperation Forum 2024 at the Madrid Chamber of Commerce. Around 70 Spanish companies attended and learned about trade, investment and development opportunities offered by Busan's business-friendly environment. After the forum, Mayor Park met with Madrid Mayor Jose Luis Mart nez-Almeida to discuss practical ways to accelerate exchanges and cooperation between the two cities.
Vocab Spotlight (단어 돋보기)
reputation: 명성
endeavor: 노력
Mediterranean Sea: 지중해
freight: 화물
robust: 견고한, 강력한
resilient: 탄력적인
sustainable: 지속 가능한
foster: 육성하다, 양육하다