1 November 2024
By Mary Bermingham
mary@TheCork.ie
The Lord Mayor of Cork, Councillor Dan Boyle, is leading a city delegation to Cork’s twin city of Shanghai, and partner city of Shenzhen, from 1st November to 9th November 2024.
In Shanghai, the delegation will meet with the Consul General of Ireland in Shanghai, David Murphy and with State Agencies in Ireland House to discuss opportunities for Cork City.
Based in Beijing, Ireland’s Ambassador to China, Dr. Nicholas O’Brien, will join the delegation in Shanghai. Ambassador O’Brien previously served as Consul General in Shanghai and concluded the original sister city agreement between Cork and Shanghai nineteen years ago.
Opportunities to develop the current programme of training and exchange in primary care between the HSE primary care in Cork and Kerry and the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission will be pursued during the visit, particularly following the conclusion of a new agreement between the agencies, signed in Cork City Hall in the presence of the Chinese Ambassador this year.
Senior representation from the HSE and Cork’s Higher Education Institutions will participate in the visit. Cork’s links with second and third-level institutions in Shanghai are particularly vibrant, and the delegation will meet with Shanghai University, the International Education Association and with several vocational colleges in Shanghai to deepen links between second- and third-level institutions in the two cities.
Further business engagements have been organised at the Chinese International Import Expo, including with Cork Chamber of Commerce with several business Chambers in Shanghai.
There is a high level of sectoral interest among Cork stakeholders in the integration of innovative technological solutions, including AI, in the provision of public services in Shanghai, and the visit will see the Lord Mayor’s delegation engage in best practice learning with counterpart public agencies.
The visit to Shenzhen will mark the first in-person engagement with the city since before the pandemic, and focus on exploring opportunities for Cork business in view of Shenzhen’s international reputation in the manufacturing sector. The visit will include an engagement with PCH International, a Cork-based firm with operations in Shenzhen, and engagement with Shenzhen City Hall on areas of future collaboration in advance of a high-level return visit to Cork by a Shenzhen city delegation at the end of November 2024.