Xiamen Dialogue with Fortaleza: "BRICS Twin Cities" Embrace the Sea. BRICS | Xiamen | Fortaleza
Fortaleza/Xiamen, August 20th (Xinhua) -- Fortaleza is an important seaport in northeastern Brazil, with a long coastline and abundant marine resources. It is a pearl located along the Atlantic coast. Xiamen, an important port city along the southeast coast of China, ranks 14th in the world in container throughput in 2022 and is currently being developed into an international characteristic maritime center city.
On May 12th this year, Fortaleza signed a sister city agreement with Xiamen, officially establishing a sister city relationship. Both of these port cities have held BRICS leaders' meetings, and after establishing friendly city relations, these two "BRICS twin cities" that are born towards the sea are continuously strengthening cooperation, leveraging the extensive cooperation platforms provided by BRICS countries to achieve sustained common development and prosperity.
This is a photo taken on August 8th of a fishing boat and fishermen in Fortaleza, the capital of the state of Ceara in Brazil. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Tiancong
Wide cooperation space
In July of this year, Eric Vasconcelos, Deputy Director of the Economic Development Bureau of Fortaleza City, went to Xiamen to participate in a high-quality development training course for the marine economy and visited the innovation base of the BRICS New Industrial Revolution Partnership.
For Vasconcelos, the similarities between Fortaleza and Xiamen are not only limited to being port cities, but also the cooperation mechanism of the BRICS countries, which provides a broad platform for cooperation between the two sides.
Vasconcelos said that there are many possibilities for cooperation between the two BRICS cities. He believes that the maritime cultures of China and Brazil are "very compatible", while Fortaleza and Xiamen are "very similar". He recalled that during the training course, we had extensive experience exchanges with our colleagues in Xiamen, and representatives from 27 countries and regions also exchanged experiences in the field of marine economy.
Taking fisheries as an example, Vasconcelos said, "We can bring back a lot of information on fisheries development from China, and we can also engage in exchanges between entrepreneurs and cooperate in areas such as investing in fishing vessels."
This is a photo taken on August 8th of a fishing boat and fishermen in Fortaleza, Brazil. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Tiancong
Zhou Lumin, Chairman of the Xiang'an District Political Consultative Conference in Xiamen, has previously served as the Deputy Director of the Xiamen Ocean and Fisheries Bureau. During this year's high-quality development training program for marine economy, Zhou Lumin was a teacher for students such as Vasconcelos. Recalling this training session, he was deeply impressed by the high enthusiasm of the students for learning.
Speaking of the "BRICS Twin Cities", Zhou Lumin said that Fortaleza, like Xiamen, is an important port city and tourist city. On the platform of the BRICS countries, the two cities have broad cooperation space in maritime cooperation.
Zhou Lumin said that coastal cities can engage in extensive exchanges and cooperation in tourism industry, marine development and protection, and marine fishery development. He gave an example, saying, "Our seedling industry, especially the aquaculture industry, is very developed and has a good foundation. We can provide support and assistance to the BRICS countries."
Never forget, there will always be an echo. Shortly after returning from the training program, Vasconcelos received a catalog of cooperative projects from Xiamen BRICS Innovation Base. He is optimistic about the huge potential for cooperation in fields such as renewable energy, electric vehicles, glass technology, and medicine, and immediately organized a meeting of local entrepreneurs to sort out potential cooperation projects.
Promoting sustainable development
Strengthening cooperation in emerging fields such as digital economy and green development is currently a key focus of economic and trade cooperation among BRICS countries. Vasconcelos said that in addition to cooperating in traditional marine industries, Fortaleza and Xiamen can also jointly explore the emerging field of marine economy - green hydrogen.
Green hydrogen refers to hydrogen produced through renewable energy sources such as wind and solar energy, and is considered one of the most promising clean energy sources for development.
Vasconcelos said, "Green hydrogen has been a topic of global discussion recently. In Brazil, especially in our state of Ceara, green hydrogen technology is very advanced, and there is a Brazilian offshore green hydrogen factory near Fortaleza."
He revealed that the federal, state, and municipal governments of Brazil are all formulating relevant laws to enable Brazil to sign international cooperation trade agreements and facilitate the export of green hydrogen.
"There are now cars and buses powered by green hydrogen energy. Recently, many Chinese made electric vehicles have been very popular in the Brazilian market, and I think the next step is green hydrogen cars. In this regard, Fortaleza has mature experience in green hydrogen, while China has mature experience in new energy vehicles," said Vasconcelos.
This is a photo taken on July 19th at Xiatanwei Mangrove Park in Xiamen City. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lin Shan
When it comes to the future cooperation direction between Xiamen and Fortaleza, Zhou Lumin hopes that both sides can learn from each other's strengths and weaknesses on the BRICS platform, and jointly improve their sustainable development capabilities.
"I hope that coastal cities in BRICS countries can establish a platform mechanism for communication and cooperation. In the future, everyone can learn from each other's strengths and weaknesses in ocean management, resource protection, and ecological restoration, and jointly improve their sustainable development capabilities."
