Antalya, embracing cooperation opportunities at the Road's west end

MembersoftheG20prepareforthetraditionalfamilyphotoduringtheG20leaderssummitinAntalya,Turkey,November15,2015

Antalyaisnotonlyintendingtoplaytheleadingroleintourism,butisreadytocloselycollaboratewithothercitiesoneconomic,industrialandeducationalprojects,saidIbrahimEvrim,theAdvisoroftheMayorofAntalyacity.

OnAnatolia'sflourishingsouthwestcoast,thecityofAntalyaislocatedattheextreme-westoftheancientSilkRoad.AsoneoftheoriginalmembersoftheUnitedNationsMaritime-ContinentalSilkRoadCitiesAlliance,AntalyacityisgoingtoplaymoreimportantrolesincooperationwiththecityofFuzhou,whichinterestinglysituatedattheotherendoftheSilkRoad,underChina’sBeltandRoadinitiative.

“WeareveryhappytobeinthesamealliancewiththecityofFuzhou,whichislocatedattheextreme-eastofSilkRoad,whereasAntalyaisalmostsituatedatextreme-west.”Ibrahimsaid,“Thisisveryinteresting!WearelikeparenthesisembracingtheSilkRoadcivilization.”

Withalonghistorythatdatesbackto2ndcenturyBC,thecityofAntalyahasquiteanoldrelationshipwiththeancientSilkRoad.Nowadays,thecityhasundertakenthemissionofconnectingtheSilkRoadtotheEurope.

“AntalyawasnotonlysituatedonContinentalSilkRoad,butalsowasanimportantseaportontheMediterraneanservingasalinkbetweenVenezia,CyprusislandandEgypt.”Ibrahimsaid.

Knownasthe“TourismcapitalofTurkey”,thecityishostingmorethan15millionvisitorseachyear.AndIbrahimbelieved,the“modernSilkRoad”willsurelybringmorediversity,moremeaningandmoreattractivenesstothecityofAntalya.

ForFuzhou,acityinterestinglysituatedattheotherendoftheSilkRoad,Ibrahimmentionedseveralspecificsuggestionsfortwocities’cooperation.

Firstofall,hesaid,academiccooperationcouldbeconductedonhistoricalissues,likejointlycreatingprogramsonstudents’andscholars’exchanges.TwocitiescouldalsocreatemuseumsofSilkRoadandstartprojectsforthetranslationofalreadyexistingdocumentsinbothlanguages.

Whatismore,physicalprojectsfortherenovationandrestorationofhistorical-culturalheritagesandinfrastructuralworksarealsosignificantsubjectsformakingthemodernSilkRoadmoreattractive.

Besides,Antalyaisanimportantagriculturalcenterwithitsecologicalpracticability.ForAntalyacity,agricultureisasimportantastourisminthecity’seconomy.Withanaverageof300sunnydayseveryyear,thecityisjustlikeagreenhouse.ItwillsignificantlymeetthefreshvegetablesandfruitsneedofallSilkRoadcountriesinthenearfuture.

Whatismore,Antalyacityhasanincreasingindustrialproductionandexportation.AntalyacityIndustrialZoneandAntalyaFreeTradeZonehaveenabledcompaniesfromallovertheworldamoreconvenientenvironmentforinvestmentandtradinginTurkey.

Inrecentyears,someChinesecompanies,whoinvestmostlyinminingormarblesectors,havesuccessfullyseizedbusinessandcooperationopportunitiesinAntalya.IbrahimsaidthatAntalyacitygovernmentcordiallyinviteandstronglyencouragetheChineseenterprisestoinvestinAntalyacity.“Ourlocalgovernmentisreadytohelpthemineveryfield,”hesaid.

WiththesuccessofhostingG20Summit2015,andtheongoingEXPO2016,thecityofAntalyahasbeenmoreactiveintheinternationalaffairsandcultureexchanges,andisattractingmoreattentionsfromtheworld.

Ibrahimsaid:“weareextremelyhappytoseemoreandmoreChinesetouristsinAntalya.”HealsoproposedthatChinaandTurkeyshouldfighttogethertoincreasethenumberofstudentsspeakingbothlanguages,sothattheancientcivilizationsofbothcountriescouldbefullyunderstood,exchanged,andinherited.