Town Twinning Between Catania and Alexandria

Two cities so far away from one another

now share their culture and tradition. This is a significant honour for Catania City Council. This is “bringing back the past glory of Catania and Alessandria,” according to Abdel Aziz, the ruler of the County of Alexandria in Egypt. The Mayor of Catania City, Salvo Pogliese, with the presence of the ruler of Alexandria, held an official meeting between the Ambassador of the Arabic republic of Egypt in Italy, Hisham Badr and the President of Sicilian Region Nello Musumeci. Badr and Musumeci have both agreed to the town twinning between Alexandria and Catania city.

Mayor Pogliese declared it “a remarkable agreement that I am very pleased with as it brings an international dimension to Catania. A very important process is being triggered through this agreement that will massively influence our industries, tourism and culture. This collaboration will also help us improve our Egyptian Museum Project which is currently in development. This agreement with Alexandria has so much potential”.

Key points of the “Town Twinning and Cooperation Agreement” between Catania and Alexandria which has 5 million inhabitants, are not only cultural, yet also economical, touristic, agricultural, fishing and nano technological oriented.

The agreement involves starting ongoing, cultural, collaborative activities that will enhance friendship between the two cities, as well as promoting tourism between cruise ships companies, innovating small and medium-sized enterprises, developing port infrastructures and exchanging fishing industry insights about European investment strategies. The agreement, that will open delegation interexchanges, also includes plans to create a branch of the Egyptian Museum in Catania, which was mainly inspired by having a shared ancient Egyptology background and culture. Governor Abdel Aziz has made reference to this cultural heritage and has highlighted the importance of the airports in connecting flights between the two countries. “Alexandria”, he said “can become an access point in Africa and Sicily our hub for North Europe”.

“Uniting and not dividing is the Mediterranean Sea” – President Musumeci talked about culture and quoted Gesualdo Bufalino, friend of Leonardo Sciascia – stating that the Mediterranean shore is the cradle of world civilization”.