On May 19, the administration of the city of Ufa and the mayor's office of the city of Djibouti (Republic of Djibouti, Africa) signed a twinning agreement.
The document presupposes mutually beneficial cooperation in the field of industry, urban space improvement, trade, tourism, culture, education, youth policy, and sports. Another critical 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. 12% of the world volume of sea freight passes through the territorial waters of the country. The volume of export-import operations of Djibouti ports in 2020 amounted to more than $ 50 billion," the press service of the Ufa administration explained.
The head of the Ufa 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 to be held in Ufa in the near future. These are the 9th National Championship "Young Professionals" (World Skills Russia) - 2021, the 6th World Folkloriada, the World Championship in Wrestling among juniors, the International Apimondia Beekeeping Congress in 2022, the International Children's Games.
In response, the mayor of Djibouti, Fatuma Awale Osman, thanked Sergey Grekov for the opportunity to cooperate. At the moment, Ufa is the first and only Russian twin city of Djibouti.
The capital of Bashkortostan already has ten twin cities: Djibouti (Republic of Djibouti, Africa), Halle (Germany), Ankara (Turkey), Nur-Sultan (Kazakhstan), Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), Minsk (Belarus), Nanchang, Hefei, Qiqihar, and Shenyang (China).
Ufa also has 13 foreign and 14 Russian partner cities, with which there is a regular exchange of delegations: specialists from partner cities attend conferences and exhibitions held in Ufa. At the moment, the city of Ufa has 56 signed agreements on cooperation and the establishment of twinning relations.
Djibouti has been the capital of the state of Djibouti since 1977. Founded in 1888, since 1892 - the administrative center 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.
