Gov. Gwen Garcia has been invited to St. Petersburg, Russia for the 2024 Economic Forum in June.
The Cebu Provincial Government and the Russian region of St. Petersburg are exploring yet again the possibility of renewing their sisterhood pact which already expired after it was first signed in 2009.
Russian Ambassador to the Philippines Marat Pavlov extended the invitation during his visit at the Capitol on January 19.
Ambassador Pavlov told Gov. Garcia that in 2023, St. Petersburg conducted an economic forum where a proposal on reviving and strengthening its cooperation with Cebu Province was raised.
“The proposal is very, very simple: to renew this agreement, to resign this kind of document. St. Petersburg authorities are ready to receive you and your visits,” Ambassador Pavlov said.
“I would be very, very interested, Your Excellency, in renewing ties with St. Petersburg because there is much that we can benefit from, both ways, both for St. Petersburg and of course for Cebu,” Gov. Garcia said.
Moreover, the two officials also discussed the possibilities of establishing direct flights from Cebu to St. Petersburg and vice versa; and to engage in people-to-people exchanges.
In 2009, during Gov. Garcia’s second term in office, Cebu Province and St. Petersburg signed a 5-year sisterhood agreement to expand their cooperation in the fields of tourism, socio-cultural, and economic development.
St. Petersburg is Russia’s second most important economic, scientific, and cultural center after Moscow.
The ambassador was accompanied by Russian Honorary Consul Armi Garcia and his fellow Russian delegates.
Both parties exchanged locally-produced products, which included a Russian doll figurine and vodka from the foreign delegation; while the Capitol gifted the ambassador with a basket of Cebuano products, among others. | Babie Jane Revecoy