A 10-member Australian delegation headed by Kevin Byrne, Mayor of Cairns, visited Guangdong from Aug. 21 to 24, 2006. Cairns is a sister city to Zhanjiang and has friendly cooperative relationship with Zhongshan. The delegation held talks with Provincial Department of Education, Provincial Environmental Protection Bureau and Guangdong Decorative Association respectively on Aug.22, 2006.

    Byrne noted that Cairns attaches great importance to the educational cooperation with Guangdong in talks with Provincial Education Department, adding that developing mutual understanding and consensus among youth is of great significance to promote long-term mutual friendly cooperation and exchanges. Byrne said that there are already some mutual exchanges between students and teachers alongside interschool and course cooperation. “The cooperation between Zhanjiang No. 2 Middle School and its Cairns counterparts is under way,” Byrne said. “We hope Guangdong Provincial Department of Education will continue to provide its vigorous support and make as many helpful and constructive proposals as possible.”

    “We are very delighted to see the fruitful achievements scored in educational cooperation between Guangdong and Cairns,” officials from Provincial Department of Education said. We will actively support and encourage mutual educational exchanges and cooperation in accordance with state and provincial policies and regulations, they said. They also proposed that mutual educational cooperation should be expanded to higher education apart from middle school. “We are looking forward to expanding our cooperation to a broader range,” Byrne said.

    The head of Pearl River Comprehensive Management Joint Meeting Office of Provincial Environmental Protection Bureau also briefed the guests on the effects and future planning regarding Guangdong’s comprehensive pollution management for Pearl River and other water area in talks with the visiting guests. Both sides reached preliminary intent for cooperation concerning silt control in Pearl River drainage area. Executives of GHD Group, an Australian professional service company for international projects and environmental protection consultancy, said it is willing to provide solution for water management and treatment as it is a market leader with mature technology and experiences. Both sides also reached consensus for future exchanges and cooperation.

    Entrepreneurs from Cairns also held talks with Guangdong Decorative Association and its member enterprises regarding construction materials purchase and import. Further in-depth contact will be followed up to set up purchase and sale relationship.

    The delegation also visited Basketball Training Center of Guangdong Sports Vocational Education and Technical College (GDVCP). Byrne said that Cairns is willing to select one promising player with great potentials from GDVCP’s young basketball players for a three-month Cairns Taipans Basketball Scholarship in Cairns Taipans, which used to be the champion of Australia’s National Basketball League (NBL), from November 2006 to March 2007.

    GDVCP and Guangdong Foreign Exchanges Center for Sports both noted that they’re willing to accept the proposal and recommended some candidates to Byrne. Both sides wish that the program could promote the development of professional basketball and help the training of promising young basketball players both in Guangdong and Cairns.