With the signing of a ‘sister city agreement’ between Chennai and Chongqing, the city is set to emerge as an ideal site of cooperation in the fields of art, infrastructure, tourism and technology.
This is in addition to the further strengthening of ties between the two countries that will ensue from the establishment of a Chinese consulate in Chennai.
Located on the upper reaches of the Yangtze river, Chongqing is the only municipality directly under the central government in western China. Local administration and civic infrastructure development in Chennai is likely to improve owing to cooperation with the city.
Schools students from Chennai Corporation schools are expected to benefit from the development of robotics and intelligent equipment industry in Chongqing. The major rehabilitation and resettlement initiatives taken in Chongqing for the Three Gorges Dam project are also expected to offer models to improve similar resettlement drives in Chennai.
The State government cleared the ‘sister city’ agreement between Chennai and Chongqing on Wednesday.
Following the suggestion made by the Chinese side on conclusion of the agreement between Chennai and Chongqing during the VVIP visit to China, the Ministry of External Affairs had sent a draft memorandum of understanding based on similar documents concluded between Mumbai-Shanghai and Delhi-Beijing.
The areas identified for mutual cooperation between other cities include management and technology of cleaning rivers, establishment of a system of recording property rights, linkages between tourism and preservation of cultural heritage of buildings ands sites, solid waste management and reclamation, microsurfacing and cold mix technology for road construction and traffic restraint measures and parking controls.
