The Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. John Buttimer finalised the Itinerary for his forthcoming visit to China between October 11th and October 18th 2012. The Lord Mayor said:
*“I will visit three cities – Hangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai – and, working with local partners University College Cork and Cork Chamber, will raise Cork’s profile in China and continue to explore opportunities”. *
The other members of the delegation are Mr. Tim Lucey, Cork City Manager; Dr. Michael Murphy, President of UCC; Mr. Conor Healy, CEO, Cork Chamber; Prof. Fan Hong, Director of the Confucius Institute UCC and of the School of Asian Studies and Mr. Pat Ledwidge, Director, Strategic Planning and Economic Development in Cork City Council. ****
The Lord Mayor will attend the 2012 Hangzhou International Sister City Mayors’ Conference “City and Leisure” and will address the conference on the topic of “Leisure and Economy”. He will also meet city leaders in Hangzhou and propose co-operation projects in the areas of innovation, education, culture and local government. ** **
On October 15th, he will meet Madame Xu Lin, Director General at Hanban, the Government Agency that co-ordinates and funds the Confucius Institutes worldwide, to discuss the development of a Confucius Institute Building and Chinese Garden in Cork. ****
He will also meet two local pharmaceutical companies that are scheduled to visit Cork in the near future. ****
On October 16th, the Lord Mayor will speak at the opening of “A Showcase of Irish Architecture – Shanghai 2012” in the Irish Centre Shanghai, organised by Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland. The delegation will have further meetings with the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission and Shanghai University regarding the Confucius Institute Building and Chinese Garden project. ****
The delegation will also meet Azure Global who will be actively promoting Cork in China for the next two years and meet local Irish business leaders.* ***
The Lord Mayor will return to Cork on Thursday October 18th 2012.