The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Coimbatore News : Coimbatore strengthens ties with German city

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Saturday, Jan 17, 2009
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Coimbatore strengthens ties with German city

Staff Reporter

Esslingen Coimbatore Association signs MoU with Esslingen authorities; ‘agreement not time-bound’

Photo: K. Ananthan.

STRONG TIES: Coimbatore Collector V.Palanikumar (second left) releases a book on Coimbatore at a function organised by the Esslingen Coimbatore Association (ESSCOM) on Friday. The Mayor of Esslingen, Jurgen Zieger, (third left) receives the first copy. Former Director of CBI D.R. Kaarthikeyan (left), Mayor of Coimbatore R.Venkatachalam (third right), Consul General of Germany, Roland F. Herrman (second right) and President of ESSCOM G.D. Gopal are in the picture. —

COIMBATORE: Coimbatore, which has a long industrial partnership with Germany, took another step forward on Friday to strengthen its ties with the German city of Esslingen.

Esslingen Coimbatore Association (ESSCOM), a Non-Governmental Organisation, and the Esslingen authorities signed a Memorandum of Understanding here.

A delegation led by Esslingen Mayor Jurgen Zieger is in Coimbatore from January 14 to 19.

The Mayor told presspersons: “We arrived in India as strangers and we will leave as friends.” Since years there were partnerships between South India and Esslingen. The German city had a population of 92,000 and was located in South Germany. It was known as a University city and was well-connected. It had sister cities in the United States, East and West Europe.

Programmes

Several companies in Coimbatore had partnerships with those in Esslingen. The agreement would cover all segments such as culture, education, industry and environment.

Though the agreement was not time-bound, Esslingen normally looked at three-year programmes.

The importance of such partnerships was that in a globalised environment, it enabled mutual understanding between the people of two cities.

Consul General of Germany in Chennai, Roland F. Herrmann, said twinning of cities does not happen often. Yet, this was normal as it was in the row of activities of the cultural relationship between India and Germany. The relationship was growing in a number of fields now.

Cultural ties

C.R. Swaminathan, vice-president of the association, said signing of the agreement was a beginning. It was an initial step to further cultural ties, have student exchange programmes and enable interaction between the local bodies of the two cities. Coimbatore could take advantage of the technology available with Esslingen in areas such as waste management and healthcare.

Partnership

At a function organised later, Coimbatore Mayor R. Venkatachalam said the agreement would help continuation of cultural exchange and strengthen partnership between the two cities.

Collector V. Palanikumar released a book on Coimbatore. S.V. Balasubramaniam, vice-president of ESSCOM, gave an introduction to the organisation. G.D. Gopal, its president, welcomed the gathering.

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