An 11-person delegation from Gunpo, South Korea, recently completed a Sister City visit to the City of Clarksville that included tours of City facilities, a local factory and visits to RiverFest and local entertainment venues. In 1999, Gunpo and Clarksville both approved an agreement establishing a Sister City relationship, designed to expand cultural understanding and cooperation.

The relationships between San Antonio and its international counterparts go far beyond ceremonial exchanges of trinkets and the signing of sister-cities proclamations. [...] San Antonio’s first sister city is Monterrey, Mexico — a relationship that predates the creation of Sister Cities International. Since then, the Alamo City has forged sister-city and friendship-city relationships with a dozen others in India, Japan, China, Taiwan and Spain. Tel Aviv, Israel and Darmstadt, Germany, are both “friendship cities.”

About two dozen municipalities, mainly from the region, have partnered with most of Guam’s villages throughout the years to form sister-city relationships. The bond is meant to be mutually beneficial as the two cities from different nations share business, cultural and educational ideas. The relationship is often established through an agreement with elected officials, such as mayors. [...] The council’s latest travel record showed that teams of village mayors attended festivals in the Philippines in recent months.

To promote cultural and commercial ties, encourage tourism, develop educational tie-ups, exchange technology and cooperate in a host of other spheres, Agra Municipal Corporation (AMC) signed a sister city agreement with Chengdu city of China on Thursday. A delegation from the neighbouring country visited Agra Municipal Corporation office on Thursday afternoon for the purpose.

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed often says that cities are where the global economy is most readily influenced and where its impacts are most easily felt. The mayor, who visited the Paris climate talks last year for a city leaders forum, has an ideological ally in the newly arrived French consul general in Atlanta, Louis de Corail.

Nine students and two chaperones headed off July 12 for Miyoshi City, the official “sister city” of The Dalles. [...] The objective of the visits is “to build and sustain cross-cultural connections and mutual understanding with our sister cities and the larger global community,” read an excerpt from the mission statement of the Sister Cities website.