KOCHI: The city is to have sister city partnership soon with the Russian city of Tomsk, one of the oldest towns in Siberia. An eight-member delegation from Tomsk met deputy mayor T.J. Vinod on Friday and expressed interest in entering into a sister city partnership which is expected to boost the trade and commercial relations between Kochi and Russia.
Mr. Beliaev Aleksandr, who led the delegation, said that the proposal for a sister city partnership would be soon presented in the province council of Tomsk. The programme will help the corporation in utilizing its know-how in infrastructure development, IT and healthcare sectors.
“Through the programme, the most advanced technologies in healthcare sector can be directly transferred to the city hospitals. Though Russia has the latest technology in medical sector, it is now being channelised through US companies, making it much expensive,” observed the delegation members.
“Kochi has high potential in infrastructure, IT and healthcare development and the partnership will help it to imbibe the technological advancement from its Russian counterpart,” they said.
The Russian team has also invited the deputy mayor to visit Tomsk. The
delegation earlier visited Thiruvananthapuram and held discussions with civic administrators.
The partnership programme between urban local bodies across the world is much beneficial as it helps in sharing technology and experience in various sectors. When cities are growing exponentially, it is necessary to have cooperative agreements between city corporations situated in geographically and politically different areas, according to civic experts.
