Wilmington To Establish Friendship City Relationship With Doha, Qatar

Wilmington DE

09 April, 2022

7:44 AM

Description

Press release from the City of Wilmington: April 7, 2022 Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki will depart the USA on Friday evening for a three-day visit to Doha, Qatar to sign a Friendship City Agreement between Wilmington and Doha, the capital and most populous City of Qatar. The Mayor will be accompanied by the Chair of Wilmington City Council's Finance and Economic Development Committee, Chris Johnson, as well as his Chief of Staff, Tanya Washington, and Administrative Assistant Sarah Luoma. Wilmington's long history of Sister City and Friendship City agreements is intended to promote improved relations among people of various backgrounds and cultures through economic development opportunities as well as educational, cultural, and artistic exchanges. "The Qatari government has extended an invitation to visit their beautiful country at no expense to the City government, and to establish an ongoing relationship that we have accepted and for which we are most appreciative," said Mayor Purzycki. "Officials in Qatar take particular interest in the development of American cities and are eager to learn more about our culture and traditions while sharing their own. Chris and I look forward to establishing a Friendship City Agreement and, among other things, discussing potential Qatari government investment in Wilmington. We will also present details of the unprecedented neighborhood stabilization and development program that is underway in our City." The City of Wilmington has established numerous Sister City and Friendship City relationships over the past several decades. These include Kalmar, Sweden (1963, Mayor John Babiarz); Watford, England (1985, Mayor Daniel S. Frawley); Fulda, Germany (1993, Mayor James Sills, Jr.); Osogbo, Nigeria (2002, Mayor James M. Baker); Olevano sul Tusciano, Italy (2002, Mayor James M. Baker); and Nemours, France (2010, Mayor James M. Baker). Wilmington's only current Friendship City agreement is with Ningbo, China. Qatar will be Wilmington's first relationship with a Middle Eastern country. Qatar is a peninsular Arab country whose terrain comprises arid desert and a long Persian Gulf shoreline of beaches and dunes. On the coast is the capital, Doha, known for its futuristic skyscrapers and other ultramodern architecture inspired by ancient Islamic design, such as the limestone Museum of Islamic Art. Doha is also Qatar's most populous city, with a population of 2.4 million people. Text of Doha, Qatar and Wilmington, Delaware Friendship City Agreement WHEREAS, a Friendship City relationship between two cities is a "steppingstone" to a Sister City relationship, under the guidelines of Sister City International, as initiated by the President of the United States in 1956; WHEREAS, a Friendship City relationship is meant to promote peace through mutual respect, understanding, and cooperation; WHEREAS, the Honorable Michael S. Purzycki, Major of Wilmington Delaware, and Sheikh Tamin bin Hamad al-Thani, the Amir of the State of Qatar, would each like to establish a formal relationship between the peoples of both Wilmington and Doha; WHEREAS, the Sister Cities program of Wilmington (including the Friendship City program) intends to support a relationship between Wilmington and Doha to foster economic, trade, cultural, tourism, and educational exchanges; WHEREAS, as a gesture of friendship and goodwill, Doha and Wilmington agree to collaborate for the mutual benefit of their communities by exploring economic, trade, cultural, tourism and educational exchanges. NOW THEREFORE, be it resolved that Doha and Wilmington hereby join as Friendship Cities within the structure of Sister Cities International. To be signed in Doha, Qatar, in the Arabic and English languages, by H.E. Abdulla Bin Abdulaziz Bin Turki Al Subaie, Minister of Municipality and Environment and Acting Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, and Mayor Michael S. Purzycki. Text of Doha, Qatar and Wilmington, Delaware Friendship City Agreement This press release was produced by the City of Wilmington. The views expressed here are the author's own.