Jeju delegation visits Cebu to strengthen ties

CEBU, Philippines — A delegation from the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province in South Korea, led by Governor Oh Young-hun, visited the Cebu Provincial Capitol yesterday to further strengthen the partnership between the two provinces.

The officials of Jeju signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) of sisterhood relations with Cebu.

Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said that the MOU bridges the distance between Jeju and Cebu.

Cebu and Jeju Island engaged in exchanges in the fields of tourism, which includes the opening of direct flights between the two destinations as pushed by Garcia.

In a dialogue, Garcia assured that the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA), on which she sits as a member of the Board of Directors, can make the proposed direct route happen on Cebu’s end.

In addition, the fields of economy, trade, agriculture, fisheries, and livestock for common values and mutual benefits were also part of the bilateral cooperation.

Meanwhile, chairman of the Committee on Tourism of Cebu Province’s legislative body, 5th District Board Member Andrei “Red Duterte” expressed in his welcome speech their excitement of the visit as Jeju and Cebu share similarities as both are islands, both are spelled in four letters, the former is the number one destination for honeymoons while the latter is the number one destination for weddings.

Duterte said that the reason for the partnership of both islands is love.

“We hope to foster and rekindle a that was once established before by still Governor Gwen during her first few terms and through this rekindling of the partnership between Jeju and Cebu we hope to entice even more Koreans to visit Cebu and entice more Cebuanos to visit Korea especially the island province of Jeju,” said Duterte.

Aside from government officials, the Jeju delegation was also composed of officers of Jeju Tourism Association as well as the Jeju Business Agency.

During the dialogue, the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry expressed their desire to sign business-to-business agreements with Jeju’s business community.