Partnership pact signed with South Korea’s Asan City

Mohd Azizi (left) and Bok holding up the MoU they both signed marking the start of the sister city partnership.

ASAN City in South Korea’s South Chungcheong province became the fourth overseas municipality to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Petaling Jaya City Council, making the two sister-cities.

The signing ceremony, which took place at the Royale Chulan Damansara in Mutiara Damansara, saw Petaling Jaya Mayor Mohd Azizi Mohd Zain and his South Korean counterpart Bok Ki-Wang, signing the document marking the start of the sister-city partnership.

The ceremony saw performances by local students extolling the different features and landmarks of Petaling Jaya, as well as a dance from Carey Island.

There was a touch of Korean pop culture too, as the guests were serenaded with the timeless Winter Sonata theme and K-pop Starhunt 2 contestant Khairul Najmuddin Abu Samah, better known as Erul Samah entertained the crowd.

Bok and the Koreans were also taught how to joget by local artiste Haiza and even tried singing a Malay number.

As the two cities’ delegations dined on a four-course meal in the Grand Mutiara ballroom, Mohd Azizi said the partnership would allow Petaling Jaya’s council staff to learn the best practices from their Asan counterparts.

“Focus will be given on information technology, infrastructure, solid waste management and public facilities aspects,” said Mohd Azizi.

Additionally, the two cities’ governments would also exchange staff on three to six months’ stints to improve relations between the cities, he added.

Prior to the MoU signing, Asan had already sent a delegation of senior staff to PJ, to learn more about the free PJ City Bus service.

Bok also thanked the hosts, adding that as both Malaysia and South Korea grew closer, inter-city relations were another facet of diplomacy that would bring benefits in terms of culture, business links and government at the local context.

Prior to Asan, Petaling Jaya had formed twin/sister-city partnerships with Bandung, Indonesia; Guangzhou, China and Miyoshi City in Japan’s Saitama prefecture.