Providence, Guatemala City to become sister cities

MAYOR JORGE O. Elorza on Oct. 12 will sign an agreement at City Hall to strengthen Providence’s relationship with Guatemala City.  / PBN FILE PHOTO/STEPHANIE ALVAREZ EWENS
MAYOR JORGE O. Elorza on Oct. 12 will sign an agreement at City Hall to strengthen Providence’s relationship with Guatemala City. / PBN FILE PHOTO/STEPHANIE ALVAREZ EWENS

PROVIDENCE – Providence’s newest sister city will be Guatemala City.
Mayor Jorge O. Elorza, on Oct. 12, will sign an agreement at City Hall to strengthen the capital’s relationship with Guatemala City, and expand commercial, tourist, cultural and educational relations.
The signing will be part of the PVD+GTM Summit, slated for Oct. 11-14, featuring local officials, along with dignitaries from Guatemala, including former president and current mayor of Guatemala’s capital, Álvaro Arzú.
“With the United States already being Guatemala’s largest trading partner and the country having the biggest economy in Central America, this summit will allow us to forge a relationship with a promising partner,” Elorza said in a statement. “In a world that is more interconnected than ever, we must seek to establish links that could lead to economic opportunity for a stronger, more vibrant Providence.”

According to a news release from Elorza’s office, census data revealed that Providence residents’ second-most-common country of origin is Guatemala. Providence is also home to the Guatemalan Consulate for the New England region, it said.
Said Arzú, “In the coming days and in honor of the PVD+GTM Summit, I will have the opportunity to visit the city, meet with Mayor Elorza and share the excitement of the activities that, jointly, we have prepared to celebrate the sistership of our cities.”

This will be the second sister city agreement for Elorza.

Last year, Elorza joined city officials and a delegation from Zhuhai, China to sign a Cooperation & Friendship Agreement, marking the beginning of a sister city relationship between Zhuhai and Providence. Both cities agreed to foster economic and trade growth while giving priority to education, science and technology, culture and health services.

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The visit was organized with the support of Bryant University and local economic and cultural partners. Bryant and the Beijing Institute of Technology at Zhuhai launched a partnership last year to educate one another’s students at their respective campuses in Smithfield and Zhuhai, China.

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