Governor Chamroen welcomed Xiamen Communist Party Secretary Hong Biling and her team at Provincial Hall.
“Xiamen is a coastal province much like Phuket in many ways, both seeking to be main engines of our respective economies,” Gov Chamroen said.
“Right now, we are getting the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) drafted, ready for us to sign. The sooner we become sister cities, the better it is for us to help each other.”
Gov Chamroen plans to travel to Xaimen in April next year, during their Cultural Festival and promote places of attraction on Phuket and also to introduce our beautiful cultural and heritage.
Ms Hong congratulated Gov Chamroen for his promotion to the position of Governor of Phuket, and said, “I can reassure you that we visited the island because we wanted Phuket officials to know that we wanted to confirm our intention to become a sister city with Phuket.
“And in the future we can exchange knowledge on tourism because our provinces are alike I think we can learn from each other,” she added.
The move to twin Xiamen with Phuket predates the opening of the Chinese consulate on the island (See story here.)
The announcement followed a visit in 2012 by a delegation led by Xiang De, Vice President of the Xi’an People’s Political Consultative Conference, visited Phuket with the intent of twinning the Chinese province with Phuket as “Sister cities”. (See story here.)
Phuket is already twinned with nine other places worldwide. These are Bali, Nice in France, Port Blair in the Andaman Islands, Las Vegas, the Crimea in Ukraine, Nakhodka in Russia, and Hainan, Yantai and Xiuning in China.