Sister Cities of Houston

The sister cities concept started in 1956 when President Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed linking (“twinning”) American cities with cities in other countries to exchange people, ideas and cultures. The president’s purpose was to involve individuals at all levels of U.S. society in citizen diplomacy in the hope that these people-to-people relations would lessen the chance of future world conflicts. Locally, the official cityto-city relationships are supported by the Houston Mayor’s Office of Trade and International Affairs along with volunteer associations for Houston’s 18 sister cities. Working together, the Mayor’s office and the associations promote people-to-people diplomacy to help develop mutual trust and understanding through commercial, cultural, educational, and humanitarian exchanges and interactions. In 1993, Sister Cities of Houston was formed as an umbrella organization to improve efficiency and collaboration among and between each individual association and the Mayor’s office.

Houston Sister Cities showcases multiple annual events each year, including the Fall Concert, Youth Talent Contest and Showcase, annual Thanksgiving Day Parade and dinners with consul generals and lunches with diplomats. Houston currently has 18 sister cities.This is the first of a three-part series of Sister Cities Houston, each of which will feature six Sister Cities Associations and their foreign counterparts. More information about each association can be found at http://www.sistercitieshouston.org/.

Baku, Azerbaijan

The city of Baku is the capital and largest city in Azerbaijan. Besides being the largest city on the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus region, it is also the largest city in the world located below sea level. Like Houston, Baku’s largest industry is petroleum and home to the headquarters of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (16th among the world’s top 100 companies in 2007). The Houston Baku Sister City Association (HBSCA) is a non-profit, citizen nursing care. With strong support from the Lord Provost of Aberdeen and the Consul General in Houston, the Houston Grampian Association runs a full calendar of events covering social, cultural, and educational activities, ranging from a formal breakfast welcoming delegates to the Offshore Technology Conference, afternoon tea celebrating the Queen’s birthday, and doing Scottish country dancing at a Burns Supper.

Guayaquil, Ecuador (1987)

Guayaquil is the most populous city in Ecuador with about 2 million people; it is Ecuador’s main port. The Houston Guayaquil Sister City Association was founded in 1987 by a group of leading Ecuadorian-American citizens living in Houston to foster cultural and educational exchanges, medical assistance, tourism, art, commercial trade opportunities and goodwill between Guayaquil and Houston. In December 2018, the Guayaquil Fire Department delegation visited with the Houston Fire Department to explore humanitarian and knowledge exchange opportunities.

HGSCA has developed innovative projects that encourage bilateral collaboration as well as generate collateral benefit to other cities in Ecuador. HGSCA has connected various Chambers of Commerce, universities, educational programs, fire departments, medical institutions as well as organized fundraising campaigns to benefit victims of natural disasters and families with children affected by terminal illnesses. In August 2018, HGSCA received the Sister Cities International Youth and Innovation Award.

Leipzig, Germany (1992)

diplomacy network which was founded in 1976 to promote mutual understanding, appreciation and cooperation between the citizens of Houston and Baku, Azerbaijan. The HBSCA’s goal is to connect the people of Houston and Baku together in a partnership of business, culture and education. The organization has taken on a number of projects in recent years to encourage additional dialog, and discussing the socio-cultural similarities, including the promotion of educational opportunities, regional and global security, cross cultural communication.

Grampian Region, Aberdeen, Scotland

The Grampian Region is Scotland’s third largest region and an economically thriving area of business, and culture. Both Houston and the Grampion Region are oil capitals of their countries and since 1979, both have hosted many exchanges for business delegations and students. The most wellknown of these is the Student Nursing Exchange Program (between Robert Gordon University and Houston Baptist University) founded in 1995 with the goal of promoting professional development and an understanding of cross border

The most populous city in the federal state of Saxony, Leipzig has a rich history of trade and commerce and remains a major European center of learning in the fields of music and publishing. It is Houston’s most active Sister City Association, and received the 2010 Sister Cities International Arts & Culture Award. The Houston-Leipzig Sister City Relationship is a direct outcome of Germany’s unification. Right after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a Leipzig student was invited to visit the United States to become familiar with American government and community involvement. He went to Sister Cities International in Washington to find a sister city for his home town, Leipzig.

In 2017, both cities celebrated the 25th anniversary of our relationship. Leipzig organized a fabulous Houston-in-Leipzig Week, and the celebrations continue in Houston this year. Over the years, regular visits of Leipzig citizens to Houston and Houston citizens to Leipzig developed deep-rooted friendships. High school and university students, artists, academics, and medical doctors spend time in the other city in exchanges on a regular basis.

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At the crossroads of the ancient trade routes of the Holy Roman Empire –Via Reggia and Via Imperii – Leipzig became a most important trading city, hosting a trade fair for over 850 years. And like Houston’s port, the world made these two cities their first stop for business. Leipzig is home to the second oldest German university; it is a city of music, the arts, and trade twinned with Houston, a city of business and energy. Business and Energy brought many important museums and collections of art to Houston.

Highlights for Houston were two visits by the Thomaner Boys Choir that has been in existence since 1212, the rare book multimedia exhibition from the Leipzig University Library on the occasion of its 600-year celebration of the University of Leipzig, and the Gewandhaus Orchestra concert, by the oldest classical civic orchestra in the world founded more than 275 years ago. The concert marked the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. President H. W. Bush and Secretary J. A. Baker III were Honorary Chairmen of the event.

In turn, Houston brought important highly regarded and lasting values to Leipzig, most important the Piece Window at the St. Thomas Church sponsored by the Houston-Leipzig Sister City Association and Houston Rotarians. Citizens of Houston and Leipzig and members of the supporting organizations, the Houston-Leipzig Sister City Association and the Staedtepartnerschaft Leipzig-Houston e.V. as well as both city parliament and city council are looking forward to many more years of fruitful cooperation.

For more than 20 years, the HoustonLeipzig Sister City Association has been holding monthly meetings with topics of interest to the community; here are just a few: business matters, civic issues, meetings with book authors, musical performances, economic outlook, showing of German movies (with English subtitles), special tours of the MFAH, etc. etc. For information, please contact Angelika Schmidt-Lange, President, Houston-Leipzig Sister City Association http:// houstonleipzig.org, at angelika@houstonleipzig.org or at 713-822-4257.

Stavanger, Norway

Houston and Stavanger formed a sister city relationship in 1980 as a result of the Norwegian festival and strong oil and shipping industries both cities. The strong business ties between the two cities and the significant investments made by Norwegians in commercial activities in Houston and vice versa led to strong support for the organization by business, civic, and cultural leaders.

Houston and Stavanger formed a sister city relationship in 1980 as a result of strong business ties between the two cities and the significant investments made by Norwegians in commercial activities in Houston and Houston based companies in Norway. The support for the organization by business, civic, and cultural leaders was a prime contributor in recognizing Houston as having the best Sister City program in 1983. During Stavanger’s visit in April 1988, Galveston was invited to take part in many of the activities and expressed a wish to join the Sister City organization. On September 26, 1988, the mayors of Houston, Galveston and Stavanger formally signed their names on a document which gave the organization the full name of “Houston/Galveston-Stavanger Sister City Society (HGSSCS)”.

The mayor of the city of Stavanger and ministers from Stavanger and from Norway in general are regular visitors to Houston. In 1968, a Royal

Norwegian Consulate General office was opened in Houston and a couple of years later followed the openings of offices of the Norwegian Trade Council, the Norwegian-American Chamber of Commerce and the Norwegian Seamen’s Church in Pasadena. This was followed by opening of many Norwegian companies, especially in the Oil Business and the Maritime Industry.

HGSSCS helps build long-term relationships between Houston/Galveston and Stavanger by sponsoring many activities. The organization was involved both when the late King Olav V of Norway and the present King Harald V of Norway visited Houston as well as when the Norwegian ambassador to the U.S. visited here. Additionally, the Society suggested and implemented the membership of the Stavanger Chamber of Commerce in the Greater Houston Chamber of Commerce as its first foreign member.

The list of schools and groups that have participated in the many exchange programs over the years are varied and long and have emphasized high school aged youth. There have also been many teachers, group leaders, parents, relatives, city officials, business people, board directors, sister city members and volunteers involved over the years. We estimate to have included and been in contact with up towards 2500 young people from Houston/Galveston in our exchange programs since the organization was founded.

Tampico, Mexico

Tampico is a city and port in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. During Mexico’s first oil boom in the early 20th century, it was the chief oil exporting port of the Americas and the second busiest port in the world. Last year, the Houston-Tampico Sister City Association hosted a month-long gallery featuring photographs from the first oil boom in Mexico (from 19001930). Founded in 2003 as a result of strong oil and shipping industries in both cities, the organization has since been actively engaged in business promotion, education, culture. health and goodwill. During Tampico’s visit to Houston in April 2003, a delegation participated in the International Festival.

HTSCAI helps build long-term relationships between Houston and Tampico by sponsoring a variety of activities which emphasize youth, and which have received recognition from city authorities and sponsoring corporations. It provides members with a forum for education and the discussion of topics of common interest; it provides participants with an opportunity to study and to promote a better understanding between the people of Houston and Tampico; it promotes friendly, personal relations between the peoples of the two regions as they meet; it fosters and promotes scholarships; it seeks to engender the goals of peace, progress and prosperity for people without concerning itself in any way with internal politics or policies.