PORTALJABAR, BANDUNG CITY - The Regional Government (Pemda) of Bandung City and Melbourne City, Australia, has officially established sister city cooperation.

This was marked by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MSP) between the Bandung City Government and the Melbourne City Government regarding Inter-City Cooperation at Melbourne Town, Australia, Monday (22/5/2024).

The signing was represented by Assistant for Economy and Development for the City of Bandung Eric Mohamad Atthauriq together with the Indonesian Consulate General (KJRI) for Victoria and Tasmania Kuncoro Giri Waseso and the Mayor of Melbourne, Sally Capp AO.

Previously, Acting Mayor of Bandung Bambang Tirtoyuliono had signed the document separately in Bandung City.

Eric said that the cities of Bandung and Melbourne had agreed on a series of cooperation programs designed to fulfill the commitments stated in the MSP.

"These programs are designed to ensure that collaboration between the two cities runs smoothly and provides real benefits for the community," he said.

There are five agreed areas of cooperation, namely: smart cities; economy and trade; higher education, training and capacity building; livable cities and urban resilience. The agreement is valid for four years and can be extended for a further four years with written mutual agreement.

The signing event was followed by a meeting between the two parties to discuss how Melbourne and Bandung have a number of similarities which are reflected in the existing MSP where both cities emphasize the importance of the education sector, the development of innovation and pioneering companies, the existence of a multicultural society, and the use of technology in city management. .

Apart from that, both parties also agreed that the newly signed MSP must be able to strengthen the existing cooperation.

During the meeting, the Mayor of Melbourne also expressed good impressions from his visit to Bandung in 2019, including witnessing the state of the art control center owned by the city of Bandung.

Before the MSP was signed, the two cities had active cooperation, including through:

1. Bandung-Melbourne Innovation Event Social Impact in 2022;
2. Bandung City Regional Government's participation in the 2021 Victoria Cleantech Expo;
3. Collaboration of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the State Government of Victoria, and the City of Melbourne Government in organizing E-Commerce and Cybersecurity for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Training activities which were attended by 25 SMEs and MSMEs in the City of Bandung 2020;
4. Webinar on Respective Responses to the COVID-19 Situation in West Java and Melbourne in 2020; Signing of Letter of Intent (LoI) City to City Cooperation in 2019;
5. Sending the winners of the 2019 Bandung-Melbourne Datathon to Melbourne to take part in the 2019 incubation.

In the future, several potential collaborations that can be carried out as MSP implementation include exchanging experiences in carrying out daily city operations, pitch competitions, knowledge exchange, arts and culture cooperation, student exchanges, as well as two-way trade and investment promotion.

Prior to the signing, the Indonesian Consulate General in Melbourne also facilitated a meeting between the Bandung City Government Delegation and the Indonesian Culinary Association of Victoria (ICAV), an association of Indonesian business and gastronomy activists in Victoria.

During the meeting, both parties discussed collaborations that could be carried out in the future, such as the participation of the Bandung City Government in gastronomic promotion activities in Victoria, exploring business opportunities such as exporting spices and craft goods from Bandung, as well as expanding restaurants from Bandung. (Diskominfo Bandung City/Revo)