23 May 2016
By Bryan T. Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie
County Mayor, Cllr. John Paul O’Shea and the Chief Executive of Cork County Council, Mr. Tim Lucey, are leading a delegation to Jiangsu Province, China from May 23rd. Members of the delegation include representatives from UCC, CIT, CETB, IDA, Cork Chamber, it@Cork, Green Ireland International and officials from the County Council
This visit is a follow-up to the visit of Chinese delegates to Cork last February when Cork County Council and Xuzhou City signed a Memorandum of Understanding agreeing to promote two way exchanges between both regions.
Cllr. John Paul O’Shea, Mayor of the County of Cork. Picture: Martin Walsh.
The purpose of this visit is to seek Economic Development, Educational and Cultural exchange opportunities between Cork County and Jiangsu Province and to build on the good relationship established during earlier exchanges.
The Chief Executive of Cork County Council, Mr. Tim Lucey, noted that “This 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 Xuzhou City Government, Xuzhou, Institute of Technology, Phoenix Publishing and Media Group, TUNIU.Com, our Consulate in Shanghai and the local IDA, Enterprise Ireland and Bord Bia Offices.
County Mayor, Cllr. John Paul O’Shea emphasised that “our regular engagements with senior representatives from Jiangsu Province and Xuzhou City have laid the foundation for the development of a strong relationship between our two regions”
During the visit Working Groups with representatives from the County Council, CIT, CETB and other relevant stakeholders will meet to consider, develop and implement Economic Development, Cultural and Educational initiatives that are of mutual benefit to both regions.
