About St. Louis-Bogor Sister Cities Organization

(From Left To Right: The Honorable Daulat Pasaribu, the Consul General of the Republic of Indonesia, Mr. Alexander Soetjipto, the Principal of St. Louis-Bogor Sister Cities Committee and IndoSuccess, LLC., The Honorable Charlie Dooley, St. Louis County Executive, and Mr. Robert Heuermann, Jr., the Executive Director of St. Louis Center for International Relations and Acting Executive Director of World Trade Center Saint Louis. Taking the picture is Mr. Joseph Passanise, the Principal of St. Louis-Bogor Sister Cities Committee and IndoSuccess, LLC.)

Sister Cities International

Sister Cities International was initiated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower as the People to People program at a White House Conference in 1956. His idea was to involve people and organized groups in personal diplomacy as an effort to continue the peace. In the first few years of the program, a dozen active affiliations were started, and it became clear that a new national organization devoted exclusively to the support of the Sister Cities program was needed. In response, Sister Cities International (SCI) was established as a not-for-profit corporation to facilitate and serve as the official linking organization for U.S. cities. Currently, almost 1,000 U.S. cities have linked with over 1,500 cities in over 110 countries around the world.

St.Louis-Bogor Sister Cities Committee

The Committee was established on the early 2000 by Mr. Alex Soetjipto, an Indonesian who resides in St. Louis, Missouri, and Mr. Joe Passanise, a Saint Louisan. It is originally a part of the St. Louis Center for International Relations, a non-profit entity funded by the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County to help Saint Louis to develop socio-economic exchanges with other cities and nations, including reciprocal investments. The St. Louis-Bogor Sister Cities Organization (Committee) is currently a part of the World Trade Center Saint Louis, an entity which is a part of an extensive global association of over 300 World Trade Centers, with overall goals to enhance international trade, promote local economic development, and ultimately foster peace and stability through trade.

On 2000, Alex Soetjipto and Joe Passanise, Principals of IndoSuccess, LLC, began lobbying for community support to establish a sister city relationship between St. Louis, Missouri and Bogor, West Java, Indonesia. Early advocates included His Excellency DR. Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti, the Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia (RI) to US (Fmr.), the Honorable George "Buzz" Westfall, the County Executive of St. Louis County (Fmr.), the Honorable Indra Cahya Sempurnajaya, the Consul General of RI in Chicago (Fmr.), the Honorable Charlie Dooley, the County Executive of St. Louis County, and Mr. Jean Anes, the Consul for Economic Affairs of Indonesian Consulate General in Chicago (Fmr.).

In 2001, the Honorable Bob Holden, the Governor of Missouri, and the Honorable DR. Bungaran Saragih, the Minister of Agriculture of RI, signed a joint statement in support of the establishment of this sister cities program.

On 2003, the letters of acknowledgement between the Honorable Iswara Natanegara, the Mayor of Bogor (Fmr.), and the Honorable Charlie Dooley was exchanged. In it, an agreement asserting the cities commitment to "promote new business development, community growth, and educational and medical exchange for the mutual benefit of both communities and countries" was expressed. Later on, at the same year, the first official meeting with the St. Louis County Government to establish the St.Louis-Bogor Sister Cities Program was conducted. Dignitaries in attendance were Honorable Charlie Dooley, Councilman, 1st Council District; Honorable Skip Mange, Councilman, 3rd County Council District and Chairman of the St. Louis County Council; Mr. Robert Grant, Deputy County Counselor, St. Louis County Government; Mr. Robert Heuermann, Jr., Director of the St. Louis Center for International Relations and the World Trade Center Saint Louis; Honorable Sumahadi, Minister of Forestry and Plantation, Republic of Indonesia (Fmr); Mr. Utoyo Sutopo, President, Indonesian Dental Association (Fmr); Dr. Joel Glassman, Director, Center for International Studies, UMSL; Mr. Rachmadi Santoso, Partner, PT Tiga Sekawan Sejati Company, Jakarta, Indonesia; Mr. Supriadi Legino, Manager, Human Resources Division, PT PLN Indonesia, Indonesian Electric Utility Company; Mr. Joe Passanise, Principal of IndoSuccess, LLC.; and Mr. Alex Soetjipto, Principal of IndoSuccess, LLC..

In the early 2004, Honorable Daulat H.A. Pasaribu, Consul General, Ms. Endang Dewi Mardeyani, Consul for Economic affairs, of the Indonesian Consulate General in Chicago, the Directorate of Economic and Socio-Cultural Treaties of the Indonesian Department of Foreign Affairs, the Principals and Representatives of the St. Louis-Bogor Sister Cities Committee in St. Louis and Gogor, the Leaderships of the St. Louis County Government, and the Leaderships of the Bogor City Government coordinated the signing of the letter of intent for the establishment of the St. Louis-Bogor Sister Cities Program.

On May 19, 2004, the letter of intent between the Honorable Diani Budiarto, the Mayor of Bogor City, and the Honorable Charlie Dooley was signed. And, in the sameday, the joint statement between the Honorable Daulat H.A. Pasaribu, the Indonesian Consul General in Chicago, and the Honorable Charlie Dooley, and the joint statement between the Honorable Daulat H.A. Pasaribu and the Honorable Francis Slay, the Mayor of St. Louis City, were signed to support the establishment of this sister cities program.

On September 12, 2005, the Memorandum of Understanding between the Honorable Diani Budiarto, the Mayor of Bogor City, and the Honorable Charlie Dooley was signed.