This city and San Jose City in Nueva Ecija have formalized sisterhood ties on Wednesday, under which both local government units are expected to have information sharing on culture, disaster preparedness, agriculture, and tourism.

“We go into partnerships with local government (units) that can help San Jose, especially on tourism,” Mayor Mario Salvador of Nueva Ecija said in his message during the sisterhood and memorandum of agreement signing at the Baguio Convention Center.

Like Baguio, San Jose City also wants to boost tourism arrivals, which he noted has a domino effect on the local economy.

“We know that Baguio is a very popular tourist destination, and we would like to learn from it so that our city and our people will also benefit from the gains of tourism,” he added.

Salvador described San Jose City’s current tourism industry as “seasonal,” and they would like to learn a lot of things from Baguio, especially its best tourism best practices that can be adopted locally.

Mayor Benjamin Magalong, for his part, said that with Baguio receiving a three-year grant to boost its disaster resilience activities and programs, the local government can help San Jose also be prepared and resilient.

“We can share with you what we are doing because we know that we are experiencing the effects of climate change and preparation is always the key,” Magalong said.

Baguio’s Smart City project, which aims to apply artificial intelligence in various fields of operation is also expected to be shared with San Jose, now a sister city of the country’s summer capital.

“This is a long-term partnership where we can share what we know, and we will also learn from San Jose,” Magalong said.

Cultural exchanges, agricultural knowledge and other best practices will be among the shared relationships of the two local government units. (PNA)