The city of Phuket in Thailand has proposed to establish a sister city agreement with Chennai.
The Royal Thai Consulate-General in Chennai has requested the Greater Chennai Corporation to discuss various aspects of the sister city partnership.
Once the State government gives its nod, the Corporation is expected to establish a sister city partnership with Phuket in concurrence with the Centre. Besides tin and timber, Phuket is famous for its tourism and beaches. It is expected to cooperate with Chennai in disaster management, including a tsunami early warning system.
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After the tsunami hit Phuket, Thailand built a tsunami early warning system. The data is expected to be shared with Chennai for improved disaster preparedness. Already seven cities, including Denver, San Antonio, Chongqing and Ulsan have partnerships with Chennai. A few years ago, sportspersons from cities such as San Antonio visited here to train Corporation school students as part of the partnership.
Some cities such as Helsinki in Finland have contributed to the development of Corporation schools without any such partnership, the officials said.