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NEWS RELEASE
City Hall
1565 First Street
Sarasota, FL 34236
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For Immediate Release: October 10, 2007
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NEW SISTER CITY IS OFFICIAL
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Sarasota,
FL: The Sarasota Sister Cities Association celebrated the
addition of the Siming (Soo-ming) District, within Xiamen
(Shaw-men), China last night with the official signing
of a Sister Cities agreement. Sarasota City Commissioners,
along with Sarasota County Commissioners, were on hand
to mark the significant moment with delegates from the
Siming District Government.
The ceremony marked the second and final
signing of the Sister City agreement. The initial signing
took place in Xiamen in June.
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The Chinese delegation arrived
Monday and enjoyed a full daily schedule, seeing Sarasota
and learning about potential opportunities for economic and
cultural exchanges. The delegation visited Mote Marine Laboratory
and met with the Chamber of Commerce, the International Business
Council and the Economic Development Corporation. An excursion
to the Ringling Museum and the Ca d’Zan, plus a tour
of the downtown are scheduled before the delegation departs
late this afternoon. |
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The Siming District has much in common with Sarasota, including
climate, tourism, and an emphasis on the cultural arts. The
Siming District is a coastal community with a semi-tropical
climate. Tourism plays a significant role in the local economy.
Siming boasts a botanical garden, bird watching, golf, water
sports and an international marathon as attractions. Public
art displays, the symphony, opera and jazz are popular aspects
of the cultural arts in Siming.
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President Dwight D. Eisenhower created the Sister Cities
program in 1956 in hopes of uniting people through understanding
and thus lowering the chances for global conflicts. He envisioned
personal one-on-one interactions which would strengthen cultural
understanding and even bolster economic development. The
Sarasota Sister Cities program became active in1963.
The Siming District is Sarasota’s seventh Sister
City, joining Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; Perpignan, France;
Vladimir,
Russia; Tel Mond, Israel; Dunfermline, Scotland; and Treviso,
Italy. For more information: www.sarasotasistercities.org.
For more photos: New
Sister City Signing
See a video of the signing: Sister
City Signing Ceremony
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