Ufa and Djibouti became sister cities

On May 19, a twinning agreement was signed between the Ufa City Administration and the Mayor's Office of the city of Djibouti (Republic of Djibouti, Africa).

With this document, the municipalities have sealed their intentions on mutually beneficial cooperation in the field of industry, urban space improvement, trade, tourism, culture, education, youth policy and sports. Another important aspect of the agreement was the exchange of experience in addressing issues of local importance. This agreement will facilitate the entry of exporters to the African continent, new foreign markets and increase the export potential of the Republic of Bashkortostan.

The interest in the Republic of Djibouti from foreign companies is due to its geostrategic position at the crossroads of important trade routes from Asia to Europe and Africa. Through the territorial waters of the country, 12% of the world volume of sea freight passes. The volume of export-import operations of Djibouti ports in 2020 amounted to more than $ 50 billion.

The Head of Ufa City Administration Sergey Grekov expressed gratitude for the interest in building fruitful mutually beneficial cooperation and invited the mayor of Djibouti and colleagues to participate in the events that are planned to be held in Ufa in the near future. These are the IX National Championship «Young Professionals» (World skills Russia) - 2021, the 6th World Folkloriad, the World Championship in wrestling among juniors, the International Apimondia Beekeeping Congress in 2022, the International Children's Games.

«We are always open to cooperation, we are ready to receive delegations, learn from other cities and countries and share our experience with them, » said Sergei Grekov.

In response, the mayor of Djibouti, Fatuma Awale Osman, thanked for the opportunity to cooperate. At the moment, Ufa is the first and only Russian twin city of Djibouti.

Ufa continues to strengthen external relations and develop twinning relations with cities of various states. Thus, the capital of Bashkortostan has 10 twin cities: Djibouti (Republic of Djibouti, Africa), Halle (Germany), Ankara (Turkey), Nur-Sultan (Kazakhstan), Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), Minsk (Belarus), Nanchang, Hefei, Qiqihar and Shenyang (China).

Also, our city has 13 foreign and 14 Russian partner cities, with which a regular exchange of delegations is carried out: specialists from partner cities attend conferences and exhibitions held in Ufa. Representatives of Ufa also travel to other cities to exchange experiences. At the moment, the city of Ufa has 57 signed agreements on cooperation and the establishment of twinning relations.

For reference                             

Djibouti has been the capital of the state of Djibouti since 1977. Founded in 1888, since 1892 - the administrative center of the colony of the French coast of Somalia, since 1981 the city of Djibouti - a free port. It ranks second in terms of economy among the cities of the Somali Peninsula after Addis Ababa (the capital of Ethiopia).

The mayor of the city is Fatuma Awale Osman (since 2017), the first female mayor since the country's independence.