Davao City inks 3rd sister city MoU

DAVAO CITY — Davao City and Hamamatsu City strengthened their bond through a sister city agreement on Tuesday in Davao City.

Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Z. Duterte and Hamamatsu City Mayor Yusuke Nakano signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for a sister city partnership, which will focus on education, academia, investments, and manufacturing.

“In this era of globalization, forging strong bonds and economic ties across international borders have become essential for a locality to harness opportunities for exponential growth and progress. As such we are truly honored to have been offered the opportunity to forge a collaborative relationship and establish a mutually beneficial cooperation with Hamamatsu,”Mr. Duterte said in his message.

Mr. Duterte said with its intent to foster an exchange of information in key focus areas, the city government of Davao expects the MoU to open opportunities for both governmental collaboration and people-to-people linkages.

The proposal for the Sister City Agreement was approved during the 2nd Davao City Council on International Relations Board (DCIRB) Meeting on July 3. This agreement marked a significant step in strengthening the bond between Davao and Hamamatsu cities.

In the same event, the Yamaha Music Philippines, Inc. (YMPH), a sales subsidiary of Yamaha Corporation and a Japanese musical instruments and audio equipment manufacturer, also signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Department of Education 11 (DepEd 11) during the event. This is in line with its aim to improve the quality of music education in the field of Music, Arts, Physical Education, and Health subjects among elementary schools in Davao City.

YMPH is introducing its “School Project,” which aims to popularize activities using music and musical instruments in public education to provide more children with opportunities to play such instruments.

“With this partnership, we hope for both Dabawenyos and the residents of Hamamatsu to learn from one another, pursue both business and academic engagements, and boost the already strong relations between Dabawenyos and the Japanese. You can be assured of the commitment and support of the city government of Davao to this partnership for the mutual benefit of our two cities,” Mr. Duterte said.

Hamamatsu City is Davao City’s third sister city in Japan. Kitakyushu City was the first sister city and has worked together with Davao City especially in the field of environment after introducing to the country the first waste-to-energy plant in Davao City. Sennan City is the second Japanese sister city and has been very active in people-to-people exchanges including online cultural interaction between students and promoting economic relations. — Maya M. Padillo