27 November 2015
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
Mayor of County Cork, Cllr. John Paul O’Shea and the Chief Executive of Cork County Council lead a delegation to the Jiangsu Province, China on November 16th last. Other members of the delegation included a representative from CIT, from the Cork Education and Training Board (CETB) and two officials from the County Council.
This visit was a follow-up to the visit of Chinese delegates to Cork in 2014 when Cork County Council and Jiangsu Province signed a Letter of Intent agreeing to promote two way exchanges between both regions. The County Council has received three delegations from China this year and participated in the Cork China Business Summit last July.
The purpose of the visit was to seek Economic Development, Educational and Cultural exchange opportunities between Cork county and Jiangsu and to build on the good relationship established during earlier exchanges.
The Chief Executive of Cork County Council, Mr. Tim Lucey, noted that “This second official visit to Jiangsu Province, which has the largest GDP of all the Chinese provinces underlines, once again, the strong presence and exposure that Cork is receiving in China. It builds on both the City Councils long standing relationship with Shanghai and on the governments expanding trade relationships with China.”
The itinerary for the visit included meetings with representatives of the Jiangsu Provincial Government, Nanjing Agricultural University, Xuzhou City Government, Xuzhou Institute of Technology, our Consulate General of Ireland in Shanghai and the local IDA and Enterprise Ireland Offices.
Mayor of the County of Cork Cllr. John Paul O’ Shea met with the Consul General of Ireland in Shanghai, Therese Healy, who is a native of Bweeng, Mallow.
Mayor of the County of Cork Cllr. John Paul O’ Shea met with the Consul General of Ireland in Shanghai, Therese Healy, who is a native of Bweeng, Mallow.
County Mayor, Cllr. John Paul O’Shea emphasized that “meetings with the Deputy Governor of Jiangsu Province and the Mayor of Xuzhou City and their senior Directors of Foreign Affairs, Trade, Culture and Education have laid the foundation for the development of a strong relationship between our two regions”.
Above: Cork County Mayor Cllr John Paul O’Shea
Other members of the delegation included a representative from CIT, from the Cork Education and Training Board (CETB) and two officials from the County Council
As a result of the visit Working Groups with representatives from the County Council, CIT, CETB and other relevant stakeholders will be formed to consider, develop and implement Economic Development, Cultural and Educational initiatives that are of mutual benefit to both regions.
