Capitol open to partnership with Italian province

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu Provincial Government is eyeing a partnership with a province in Italy.

Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia expressed openness to cooperation with a province in the said country during the courtesy visit of Italian Ambassador to the Philippines Davide Giglio to the governor at the Cebu Capitol on February 20.

“This excites me. We don’t have any. We don’t have a single sisterhood agreement with any Italian (province),” Garcia told Giglio.

During their meeting, Garcia shared with the envoy the “best practices” of the Cebu Province and its established programs and projects by the Cebu Provincial Government, especially with major projects that the Capitol has partnered with foreign investors like the Acciona Energia, a Spanish firm that will develop the solar power plant in Daanbantayan, northern Cebu.

Garcia said that Cebu Province is open and ready to establish more business partnerships with international investors, which is seen to boost the province’s economy.

“I don’t want to involve in your politics, but I just want investments and tourism to uplift the lives of the Cebuanos,” the governor said, as per Capitol’s new portal, Sugbo News report.

Giglio answered that they will do their part for the said plan to forge a partnership with Cebu Province.

“We’ll try to do our part,” he said.

The Cebu Provincial Government has at least 12 sisterhood pacts with other provinces from other countries, which include Busan Metropolitan Government and Gangwon Province in South Korea; Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and the Provinces of Guangdong and Fujian in China; Guam, Ljubljana in Slovenia, Barcelona Provincial Council in Spain; Regional Government of Valparaiso in Chile, and St. Petersburg in Russia.

The Capitol is also set to forge a sisterhood agreement with Phuket Province in Thailand. (CEBU NEWS)