Mayor Herbert Bautista and Mayor Maung Maung Soe of Yangon signing the Sister City Agreement

February 2, 2017 (Thursday) - Quezon City Mayor Herbert M. Bautista welcomed the delegation of Mayor U Maung Maung Soe of Yangon, Myanmar for the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Sister City Cooperation between Quezon City, the largest metropolitan city of the Philippines and Yangon, the largest city of Myanmar.

In a modest ceremony at the Bulwagang Amoranto – Quezon City Hall, Mayor Bautista and Mayor Maung Maung Soe signed the MOU establishing the sister city cooperation designed to promote mutually beneficial relations in trade and economic development; transportation and tourism; education, sports and culture; environment and urban planning; as well as human resources, science and technology.  Mayor Bautista praised Myanmar for the reforms it has undertaken that earned the respect of its ASEAN neighbors. He saw the similarities of Myanmar and the Philippines with both countries’ journey towards democratization.

Mayor Herbert Bautista and Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte receiving Mayor Maung Maung Soe of Yangon at the city hall main lobby

Mayor Bautista said that the sisterhood cooperation is a historic day for both cities, since after 2 years of negotiations and discussions, the cooperation agreement was culminated on the eve of the Golden Anniversary of the ASEAN, with the Philippines holding the current chairmanship of the ASEAN. The agreement is also precedent setting since it is the first Sisterhood City Agreement of QC with any ASEAN city.  Mayor Maung Maung Soe viewed the agreement as the starting point for synergy between the development initiatives of both Yangon and Quezon City.  Mayor Bautista agreed with the Mayor of Yangon and believes that the cooperation between the cities will bear fruit in enhancing mutual investment in labor, employment, investments and trade.

Mayor Herbert Bautista in discussion with the Yangon City delegation

The QC-Yangon Cooperation took form earlier this week, when City Administrator Aldrin Cuña met with the advance party of Yangon City, led by Joint Secretary U Than.  The Yangon delegation received a briefing on QC’s best practices in traffic management, disaster risk reduction and response, and waste management and environmental protection.  During this meeting QC’s department heads presented the programs and projects being implemented by the city, afterwhich a open forum and a networking session was held to further enhance city to city relations.

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