Greater Geelong Deputy Mayor Trent Sullivan and Mayor of South
Korea’s Changwon City, Mr Huh Sungmoo have signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two cities at a ceremony at City
Hall.
The MOU
formalises an agreement to collaborate with Changwon City on trade, education
and cultural exchanges, to promote investment and employment opportunities for
the two cities.
Located on
South Korea’s southeast coast, Changwon City is a known industrial and
manufacturing hub that is home to global manufacturers including Hanwha
Corporation and its subsidiary Hanwha Defence Australia (HDA).
HDA
will provide the Commonwealth Government’s $1-billion Land 8116 project to
build and maintain heavy artillery and ammunition resupply vehicles in Geelong.
City of Greater
Geelong CEO Martin Cutter joined the Deputy Mayor in welcoming a delegation
from Changwon City to Geelong for the signing and exchange of gifts.
Hanwha Defense Corporation CEO Jaeil Sohn, Hanwha Defense Australia’s Managing Director Richard Cho and Deakin
University Genevieve
Reid, Director of Research Sectorial Partnerships, Government and Industry also
attended the ceremony.
The
Commonwealth has also selected HDA as one of two companies to supply Land400
tanks to the Australian Defence Force, a contract worth $27 billion over 10
years.
An
announcement on the tender is expected this year however Hanwha has announced
that its preferred location is Geelong, which would create up to 350 jobs.
The Greater Geelong Council agreed to proceed with a MOU in
December last year after a request from Changwon City.
The agreement will be reviewed each year to
assess the benefits for both cities.
Councillor Trent Sullivan - Deputy Mayor
The City of Greater Geelong greatly respects Changwon City
and is honoured to enter into this agreement.
The Geelong
region is very hopeful that this Memorandum of Understanding will bring great
benefit for both regions and we believe there will be much to learn from each
other.
We see this is
an opportunity to build a great relationship with a city that holds many
similarities to ours, and that has equally high aspirations of competing on the
global stage.
This MOU aligns with the Geelong community’s 30-year vision to be
internationally recognised as a ‘clever and creative’ city with a prosperous
economy, that supports jobs and education opportunities.
Mr Huh Sungmoo - Changwon City Mayor
Although the cities are physically separated by
a great distance, they share similar paths and goals.
I am confident our two cities' close cooperation will contribute
to advancing smarter global society.
Changwon and Geelong have taken a step forward through the
signing of an international friendly city agreement, and we hope that we may
continue our bilateral exchanges in trade, investment, culture and
tourism.