MPP establishes ‘friendship city’ relationship with Yibin City in China

KUCHING (Sept 10): The Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) has established a “friendship city” relationship with Yibin City in the Sichuan Province of China, under the facilitation of Minister of Transport Dato Sri Lee Kim Shin.

Lee said the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for establishing a friendly cooperation relationship between MPP and Yibin City was held after he and his officials conducted the First Autonomous Rapid Transit (ART) Roll-out Ceremony and Customer First Inspection Activity for Kuching Urban Transportation System (KUTS) in Yibin on Monday.

MPP chairman Tan Kai and mayor of Yibin Municipal People’s Government Liao Wenbin signed the MoU.

In his speech at the ceremony, Lee mentioned that during his visit last year, he proposed the idea of establishing a friendship city relationship to the mayor of Yibin and the local foreign affairs office.

Upon returning to Sarawak, he said he reached a consensus with the MPP and successfully realised the proposal.

He stated that the Sarawak government has been actively developing digital and hydrogen economies in recent years, including promoting hydrogen-powered ART vehicle, with Yibin city as the production site.

He said the ART vehicle production for the KUTS project laid a solid foundation for cooperation between the two cities.

He expressed hope that MPP and Yibin Municipal People’s Government will have more exchanges in the future, fostering closer cooperation in areas such as culture, education, economy and commerce, and achieving mutually beneficial outcomes.

During the ceremony, Tan Kai extended an invitation to Liao Wenbin to lead a delegation from Yibin Municipal People’s Government to attend the Malaysia (Kuching)- China Cooperation Forum cum 50th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations Gala Dinner, which will be held in Kuching on Dec 17-20 this year to mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Malaysia.