In a bid to strengthen relations, a delegation from eThekwini Municipality led by the Mayor Cllr James Nxumalo is currently in Chicago for the World Routes 2014 conference and Sister City programme to discuss various areas of cooperation including economic development, trade and investment promotion.
The Mayor is accompanied by, among others, Member of the Executive Committee Cllr Nondumiso Cele, City Manager Sibusiso Sithole, Head of International and Government Relations Eric Apelgren, Head of Tourism Phillip Sithole and other officials. They have also been joined a delegation from the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government led by MEC for Economic Development and Tourism Mike Mabuyakhulu and KZN Tourism CEO Ndabo Khoza.
The visit to Chicago is also to provide the team from eThekwini and Province with the technical insight of hosting the 2014 edition of World Routes, which is running from September 20 to 23 in Chicago. The team will also be receiving the baton from its Sister City Chicago after the Durban and KZN Province won the right to host the World Routes Conference in 2015 which will be held for the first time in an African City.
Other activation activities being run by eThekwini in Chicago include an exhibition stand and the farewell reception that will be hosted by KZN at the end of the conference today, 23/09/2014.
One of the strategic programmes of the Provincial Growth and Development Plan is to develop the Aerotropolis around the King Shaka International Airport (KSIA), which is seen as the important gateway that will connect KZN to global markets.
It then became necessary for KZN to develop an airlift strategy that will grow air services and develop new routes linking KSIA to other global aviation hubs.
Mayor Nxumalo said the World Routes 2014 event brings together key stakeholders in the aviation and tourism industry, which include airlines, airports and tourism industry players.
“The bid narrative for hosting this event is to engage the major global airlines with an objective of getting these airlines to consider King Shaka International Airport as an alternative hub to enter Southern Africa,” he said.
The eThekwini and KZN delegation have met various stakeholders in preparation for next year’s conference.
City Manager Sibusiso Sithole said: “We are here to learn about how Chicago is hosting the World Routes conference and what we can do to make it even much better when we host it next year.”
Mayor Nxumalo also met with the Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emanuel and they have agreed to work on a series of cooperation to revitalise the sister city agreement signed by the City and Chicago in 1997.
“This agreement did not expand on areas we want to focus on. It is in that context that we want to have it reviewed and by the time we leave here we should have a draft agreement which will then be ratified by the two councils,” said Sithole.
“We held discussions in the field of policing and economic development which will help us in the process of setting up the City Planning Commission. We also dealt with the maritime sector and skills development, looking at the exchange programme for our staff as well as scholarships for our youth at home through the support of the City of Chicago,” added Sithole.
Other areas of cooperation include transport learning and management for students, safety and security, bio-technology, auto-motor sector, business process operations, tourism and convention partnership, agriculture, arts and culture including filming and related creative industries.
eThekwini conveys condolences to families of the bus accident victims