NCD Governor Powes Parkop and City Manager Ravu Frank, with their team from the City Hall, met a high-level delegation from the Guandong Province of China and the city of Shenzhen, at the Hilton Hotel in Port Moresby last Thursday.

Shenzhen and Port Moresby have shared a sister-city relationship established in 2016 under the leadership of Governor Parkop, and the Butuka Academy (PNG and China Friendship School) is the fruit of this relationship.

The meeting was held to discuss the visit by the Governor of Guandong Province to Port Moresby next month, including plans to deepen the partnership and collaboration between Port Moresby, the city of Shenzhen and the Guandong Province.

“Our relationship is continually growing every year, and we are going to build it bigger and better. We are thrilled to have such a significant delegation from the Guandong Province and the city of Shenzhen. This shows your commitment to our relationship, and I extend to each of you our warmest welcome on behalf of our Capital City,” said Governor Parkop.

The NCDC believes there is much to gain and share with Shenzhen, thus inviting the President of the Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Rio Fiocco, to also attend the luncheon meeting.

“These important people-to-people exchanges between Port Moresby and Shenzhen are vital because we have so much to share and learn from each other.”

“I chose Shenzhen to be our sister-city because of its remarkable development achievements. Our two cities have a similar storyline in terms of rapid immigration from other provinces and the consequent multi-ethnicity. Port Moresby is the business centre of PNG, and all the tribes and languages of the nation are represented here, much like Shenzhen is to China. We must build on and learn from our relationship with Shenzhen. Deepen our interactions and expand our exchanges.” said Governor Parkop.

The two cities have already achieved meaningful results as a result of the partnership. The Butuka Academy School of Excellence educates over 3,800 Papua New Guinean children every year who are learning Mandarin. These students from Butuka Academy have interactions with students in Shenzhen as pen pals and are building long-term personal relationships.

Governor Parkop said he would be travelling to Shenzhen later this year to renew the sister-city agreement and looks forward to more collaboration and interface on the business front. The meeting ended with much optimism for the future of the two cities.