A T L A N T A S I
S T E R
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| Bill Campbell
Mayor Georgianne Thomas Ancient Olympia Brussels Bucharest Cotonou Lagos Montego Bay Newcastle-Upon-Tyne Nuremberg Port-of-Spain Rio de Janeiro Salcedo Salzburg Taegu Taipei Tbilisi Toulouse Canberra |
For immediate release 25th May, 1999 Atlanta adds new Sister City –
Australia’s capital city, Canberra Atlanta has a seventeenth Sister City – the capital city of Australia, Canberra.
Based on a recommendation from the Atlanta Sister Cities Commission, Atlanta City Council
and Mayor, Bill Campbell recently signed a resolution to extend an invitation to the
government and people of Canberra to join in a Sister City relationship. Councilor Julia
Emmons is visiting Canberra to present the invitation. Atlanta and Canberra share characteristics in common. Both are inland capital cities,
located in the Southeast of their respective state and country. Both have positive
economic conditions that favor mutually beneficial exchanges. Canberra has a population of 310,000 and is considered to be the fastest growing city
in Australia. It is internationally-minded, with embassies representing most countries in
the world. Canberra universities are seeking ties in the Atlanta area with Georgia Tech
and Georgia State University and the Australian Institute of Sport shows great potential
for exchanges with similar facilities located on the university campuses in Atlanta.
Potential for exchanges also exists among museums, civic groups and the organizations that
are preparing for the Year 2000 Summer Olympics. A sister city group has been established in Atlanta to promote the Canberra
relationship, headed by Councilor Julia Emmons, who once lived in Canberra and who has
visited on several occasions to discuss exchange arrangements. A reciprocal group in
Canberra has the support of the office of the Australian Chief Minister. Canberra has sister cities in Nara in Japan and Beijing, China, two countries in which
Atlanta is keenly interested to establish sister city relationships. Atlanta’s other Sister Cities are: Ancient Olympia, Greece; Brussels, Belgium;
Bucharest, Romania; Atlanta’s Sister Cities program is coordinated by the Atlanta Sister City
Commission. |