Friendship Cities Taipei and Perth Sign MOU, furthering Cultural Exchanges between Taiwan and Australia
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the friendship-city relationship between Taipei city and the City of Perth, the capital of Western Australia. In order to expand the cultural exchange between our cities, Director General Tsai Tsung-hsiung of the Taipei City's Department of Cultural Affairs headed a delegation to Perth, where on July 25 he and the representative of Perth Ms. Gaye McMath signed a memorandum of understanding on cultural and artistic cooperation.
The MOU was signed at the Perth City Council. The City of Perth specially arranged a modest and solemn ceremony, followed by traditional Perth rituals, beginning with a Welcome to Country and speeches from local aboriginal representatives, followed by songs and performances to welcome the guests to their land. Next, the representative of Perth Ms. Gaye McMath also gave a welcome speech and Director General Tsai Tsung-hsiung gave a response.
The two sides then signed the memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the visual arts, performing arts, film, and other fields. This MOU promoting cultural exchange between Taipei and Perth, a major international city, will help to make our culture and art more diverse and more creative. It will also put in play Taipei’s cultural soft power and shape its image as an international city of culture.
Director General Tsai also presented the City of Perth with Taipei mascot Bravo bear as a symbol of friendship, saying that he hoped the bear would take on the role of cultural ambassador and lead Taiwan and Australia into a new era of cultural exchange.
Taipei City currently has alliances with 49 cities in 35 countries, including five sister cities and friendship cities in three countries targeted by the New Southbound Policy: Australia, the Philippines, and Malaysia. In 1999, Taipei City and the City of Perth became friendship cities, and in the past few years they have collaborated in the fields of visual and performing arts.
