From October 15 to 17, a delegation from the provincial government of Shandong Province led by Vice Governor Deng Yunfeng visited Ilocos Norte.

During the visit, Vice Governor Deng Yunfeng attended the Ilocos Norte and Shandong Joint Work Plan Signing and Meeting held at the Provincial Capitol of Ilocos Norte. He also researched agriculture, food processing, tourism, new energy and other industries of Ilocos Norte. Likewise, he witnessed the unveiling of the Maize Joint R&D Center between Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU), and Smart Agriculture Joint Laboratory between Dezhou University and MMSU.

Vice Governor Deng Yunfeng said that the friendly relations between Shandong Province and Ilocos Norte Province have developed well. Since the formal establishment of sister-province relations in 2002, the two provinces have carried out practical cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, agriculture, education and other fields. He assured to strengthen the cooperation of Shandong Province with Ilocos Norte in economy, trade and investment, agriculture, infrastructure, culture and education to further solidify the friendly relations between the two sides.

Meanwhile, Governor Manotoc emphasized that Ilocos Norte is the gateway for exchanges between China and the Philippines. As such, he looks forward to continuing the cooperation with Shandong Province in the fields of agriculture, education, tourism, new energy and other fields to achieve new progress in the two provinces’ exchanges.

Members of the delegation include the Director General of the Provincial Foreign Affairs Office Cai Xianjin, Director General of the Provincial Council for the Promotion of International Trade Meng Xiangdong, Deputy Director General of the Provincial Education Department Zhang Zhigang, President of Shandong Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences Li Xiangdong, etc.

Acting Head Consul Sun Weidong of the Chinese Consulate in Laoag attended the meeting and delivered a speech. He expressed that may the two sides even more deepen their exchanges and cooperation for the benefit of the people of the two provinces.