The focus of the San Francisco Bangalore Sister City Relationship is to create jobs and new business in the Bay Area
It’s possible that the words “sister cities” are enough to make you roll your eyes and conjure up images of a bunch of fluffy feel-good events. But that’s what San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and a group of Bay Area residents are trying to change through San Francisco’s newest sister city relationship. At the end of this month, Newsom and a group of approxmiately 50 people – primarily entrepreneurs and professionals from Silicon Valley – will visit Bangalore, where they plan to sign trade and cultural agreements with their counterparts in the city that’s often referred to as the Indian Silicon Valley.
The intent, says Jim Herlihy, a managing director with Deutsche Bank and co-chair of the San Francisco Bangalore Sister Cities Initiative, is to propel business and cultural exchanges between the two towns, and in the process, drive some business to San Francisco. He points out that Bangalore has grown very fast in the past decade and is looking to this relationship for help with its infrastructure and growth needs.
His words reflect the memoranda of understanding that are being developed between groups in both cities. Bangalore’s governing municipal body, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), is working on an agreement with the San Francisco Department of Parks and Recreation, Bangalore’s water board is turning to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission for solutions to waste and water management issues.
There are collaborations on the table in various other sectors, such as the arts, culture, green technology, and bio-technology. India’s most prominent biotech company, Biocon, will be signing an agreement to partner with the California Institute for Quantitative Bio sciences (QB3). The leading fashion training institute in India, the National Institute of Fashion Technology, is teaming up with the Academy of Art in San Francisco to work together on textiles, designs and new fashion technologies. The Asian Art Museum in San Francisco is also working on an agreement with an art body in Karnataka. The museum’s director, Jay Xu, will be accompanying the mayor to Bangalore.
Nov. 10 reception at the Asian Art Museum honoring San Francisco Bangalore Sister Cities Initiative’s inaugural trade mission delegates to Bangalore. Photo by Sameer Yagnik/Creations by Sam
Mayor Gavin Newsom is obviously excited about the trip. After all, this was originally his idea – and if it is successful, it will be part of his legacy, just as the 30-year-old San Francisco Shanghai sister city relationship has brought Senator Diane Feinstein much praise over the years for the partnerships it has created at various levels between the two regions. At a recent event at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, Newsom told the delegates traveling with him that he would probably be staying a day or two longer in Bangalore than he had initially expected to. “I have the same hopes and plans that this sister cities relationship can excel as the sister cities relationships with Shanghai and Osaka,” he said.
That’s what a lot of people are hoping for, from sponsors like India’s Kingfisher Airlines and the Silicon Valley giant, Cisco, to delegates from local firms. With the economy still weighing local businesses down, some are hoping that this can be a catalyst for better tidings.
“It serves both sides. With innovative ideas coming out of Bangalore, they get associated with San Francisco, which has been the tech capital of the world,” said Nicki Mehra, the CEO of Headstrong, an IT consulting company. “It also gives San Francisco a boost. In ten years, the buying patterns will change. Whatever is being produced – half the market buying power of the world will be in India and China.”
Mayor Gavin Newsom has proclaimed Saturday, November 21 as India Day to celebrate the sister city relationship. In its honor, the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco will host an afternoon of South Indian music, storytelling and activities for kids.
Celebration of India
Saturday, November 21
11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Samsung Hall, Asian Art Museum, 200 Larkin Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
Free with museum admission.
Does this ‘relationship’ between Bengaluru and SF include educational collaborations?