Lord Mayor Campbell Newman has welcomed Abu Dhabi City in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as Brisbane’s newest Sister City.
Sister City agreements are formal strategic arrangements to promote and advance the economic development and social infrastructure of each sister city to the mutual benefit of both cities.
Cr Newman and Abu Dhabi City Municipality General Manager H.E. Khalifa Al Mazrouei signed the Agreement in Abu Dhabi, making the UAE second city Brisbane’s eighth active Sister City.
The Lord Mayor is currently in Abu Dhabi leading a trade mission of key Brisbane businesses as part of a trip that also takes in Bahrain and Qatar.
The Abu Dhabi agreement follows successful economic and civic relationships with Kobe, Auckland, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Semarang, Kaohsiung and Daejeon.
Cr Newman said he was delighted to welcome Abu Dhabi to Brisbane’s Sister City network and looked forward to the economic and social benefits that the agreement would bring to both cities.
“Many Brisbane companies are already involved in major projects in Abu Dhabi and several Brisbane educational institutes are engaged with their Abu Dhabi counterparts,” he said.
Sunland Group, GHD, QUT, Griffith University, Cardno, Noel Robertson Architects, WorleyParsons and Thomson Adsetts Architects have a presence in Abu Dhabi.
“This Sister City relationship will assist in identifying more opportunities for local business, and driving economic development to benefit all Brisbane residents,” Cr Newman said.
The Lord Mayor said Brisbane and Abu Dhabi shared common features.
“Both are undergoing rapid urban development, have extensive multi-cultural populations and are striving for global importance and best practice operations,” he said.
“On a local government level, I look forward to sharing the experiences of dealing with the significant issues that impact our cities - such as rapid growth, major infrastructure development, water conservation, sustainability and traffic congestion.”
Abu Dhabi has identified Brisbane City Council as one of its international benchmarks for best practice in local government services.
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Brisbane City Council’s Sister City program has been building successful city-to-city relationships for economic and trade relations since 1985, when Kobe was first signed up.
Abu Dhabi City is the UAE Capital City and seat of the Federal Government, and had a population of about 860,000 in 2006 which is predicted to rise to 1.03 million in 2010.
It houses some of the world’s biggest oil-producing companies and occupies 80 per cent of the UAE land mass, and two thirds of its population.
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