PORTALJABAR, BANDUNG CITY - The Bandung City Government (Pemkot) and the Liuzhou City Government, People's Republic of China (PRC) continue to continue cooperation in the fields of tourism to technology. This is in line with two decades of cooperation between the two cities as sister cities.

"Two decades of togetherness between the City of Bandung and the City of Liuzhou is real evidence of the close relationship, mutual respect, and full of spirit of collaboration between the two cities," said Bandung Mayor Muhammad Farhan at a virtual meeting, Monday (21/4/2025).

The virtual meeting was held to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Asia Africa Conference and 20 years of Sister City cooperation between the City of Bandung and the City of Liuzhou.

Farhan hopes that this friendship will continue to grow, bringing greater benefits to the people of Bandung City and Liuzhou City, and becoming an inspiration for inter-city relations in the world.

He said that Bandung City is known as a city of education with more than 50 universities, including some of the best universities in Indonesia.

Meanwhile, the economic structure of Bandung City is largely supported by the creative industry, trade, technology, and tourism sectors. With stable economic growth and increasing competitiveness, Bandung City has become one of the centers of innovation and entrepreneurship in Indonesia.

"Diplomacy is one of Bandung City's strategies in increasing global competitiveness. Bandung City continues to strive to strengthen its position on the international stage through collaboration with various partners in the world," he said.

Farhan said that the city of Bandung is rebuilding its "city branding" as the capital of Asia Africa and reinforcing Bandung's spirit in developing the city of Bandung.

"Bandung City and Liuzhou City have many similarities and great potential to be developed in various strategic sectors. Liuzhou City has a harmonious blend of industry, culture and history, and the environment, making this city attractive for investment and tourism," he said.

Meanwhile, the areas of cooperation that have been agreed upon by the two cities include economics, trade, industry and tourism, science, technology and administration, education, culture, social welfare, youth and sports, environment, population and urban development.

"With the various similarities and potentials they have, the partnership between the City of Bandung and the City of Liuzhou can provide real benefits for both cities in building a more advanced, innovative and sustainable future," he said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Mayor of Liuzhou Tang Zhenggou said that the cooperation with Bandung City provided extraordinary enthusiasm.

"One of them is the spirit of the KAA (Asian-African Conference) as a barometer that has a positive impact on bilateral cooperation," he said.

He explained that cooperation in 2025 will focus on trade, education, culture and tourism.

"Trade and investment in this trade expansion requires human resources so that in technology education we also utilize it with better results," he explained.

The sister city cooperation relationship between the City of Bandung and the City of Liuzhou has entered its 20th year since the signing of the Letter of Intent (LoI) for cooperation between the two cities on August 5, 2005, which was then ratified as a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation on September 21, 2006.

One of the implementations of cooperation between the two cities is the sending of artwork by elementary school students from Bandung City to be exhibited at the Friendly City Painting Exhibition in October 2019.

The provision of masks for handling Covid-19 from the Wuling automotive company, Liuzhou City was carried out in April 2020.

The creation of the symbol pin of Bandung City and Liuzhou City to commemorate 15 years of sister city cooperation was carried out in September 2020.

The sending of student and teacher delegations from Liuzhou City to the Bandung Encouragement on Leadership, Youth, and Innovation (BARAYA) activity will take place in November 2023.

Submission of artwork from Elementary and Junior High School students in Bandung City in the Sister City Painting Exhibition for Children and Teenagers with the theme Our Cuisine held in December 2023.

Representatives of Liuzhou City also participated in the online discussion at the Joint Working Group in December 2024.