Greater Noida to soon ink 'Sister City' pact with US' Loudoun County

Noida: Greater Noida may soon enter into a 'Sister City' agreement with the US' Loudoun County, in a move that can open the way for large-scale investment, academic and cultural exchanges between them, officials said.

A team of representatives from Loudoun County, in Virginia State of the US and some 70 km off Washington DC, was in Greater Noida on Tuesday.

During the visit, the American delegation led by Buddy Rizer, executive director of the Department of Economic Development of Loudoun County, met with Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) CEO N G Ravi Kumar and Additional CEO Medha Rupam.

"During the meeting, the two sides held discussions to finalise the terms of agreement for the 'Sister City' pact," the GNIDA said in a statement.

“A couple of suggestions have been given by both the sides in the draft agreement, following which a memorandum of understanding will be made after taking approval from the government soon,' the GNIDA said.

According to officials, the Greater Noida Authority has been trying for a long time to enter into an agreement with Loudon County as a 'sister city', or 'twin city'.

A Sister City Agreement (Twinning of Cities), facilitates direct exchange of education, business, culture, biotech, agriculture, pharmaceutical, information and technology, etc. between two cities, they said.

On Tuesday, during its Greater Noida visit, the Loudoun County delegation was apprised about the Noida International Airport, road infrastructure, metro connectivity, expressways, greenery, big companies, educational institutions, data centre hub, etc, in the region, according to the statement.

The visitors were also informed about Industrial Integrated Township in Greater Noida, an upcoming multi-modal transport hub, it added.

Rizer expressed the possibility of large-scale investment in areas like data centres, educational development, environment etc, the GNIDA said.

GNIDA CEO NG Ravi Kumar assured swift efforts from the Greater Noida Authority to implement the 'Sister City' agreement soon, it added.

The central government has engaged in Twin/Sister agreements between Indian states and cities with those in partner nations as an efficient tool to bolster cultural and diplomatic ties, as well as trade and investment relations.

In Uttar Pradesh, the first such agreement was signed between Varanasi and Kathmandu, Nepal, followed by Ayodhya and Janakpur, Nepal, both in 2014, according to official records.

A pact was signed between Agra and Chengdu, China, in 2016 and Lucknow and Wenzhou, China in 2017, it showed.

Agra signed another agreement with Petra, Jordan in 2018, the records showed.