Signing Ceremony

St. Louis County Executive Charlie A. Dooley and Diani Budiarto, mayor of Bogor, Indonesia, are shown signing an agreement to strengthen socio-economic relations between the two metropolitan areas by encouraging more affiliations among businesses, universities, governments and not-for-profit enterprises. They are shown with, from left, Robert R. Heuermann, Jr., Executive Director of the St. Louis Center for International Relations; Joe Passanise, President, St. Louis-Bogor Sister Cities Committee; former Missouri Governor Bob Holden; and Alex Soetjipto, Board Chairman, St. Louis-Bogor Sister Cities Committee.

County Executive Charlie A. Dooley Meets With Diplomatic Delegation Led By Bogor Mayor Diani Budiarto

SEPTEMBER 12, 2005, St. Louis, Missouri ...

In a ceremony at St. Louis County government offices, Mr. Dooley and Mayor Budiarto, accompanied by a delegation of diplomats and business leaders from Indonesia, signed documents confirming increased efforts to promote productive exchanges in medicine, education, science and technology, as well as business development and cultural interchange.

Mr. Dooley said, "This is a great day because greater St. Louis and Bogor have a great deal in common as communities and we look forward to working together to improve relationships for mutual betterment and growth."

Mayor Budiarto said, "This agreement signifies a beneficial affiliation between our two metropolitan areas that will lead to expanded and strengthened relations."

Bogor is a city of 831,000 near the Indonesian capital city of Jakarta in the province of West Java. St. Louis County and Bogor officially established a Sister Cities relationship in May 2004 to promote business, cultural and educational exchange. Today’s agreement enhances that relationship by defining mutual objectives and the scope of cooperation between St. Louis County and Bogor, a center for Indonesia’s agriculture industry which, like St. Louis, has a world-class botanical garden.

Among other initiatives, the agreement proposed establishing a Joint Working Group to recommend activities between the two communities, and also advocates more travel, diplomatic visits and business exchange to foster better cross-cultural understanding.

Today’s ceremony was hosted by the St. Louis Center for International Relations (www.slcir.org), the non-profit entity that coordinates 15 sister cities programs in St. Louis City and County, including the St. Louis-Bogor Sister Cities Committee, and which supports exchanges in commerce, education, technology, culture and the arts. The St. Louis Center for International Relations is affiliated with World Trade Center Saint Louis (www.worldtradecenter-stl.com), a unit of the St. Louis County Economic Council.

In January 2005, the St. Louis-Bogor Sister Cities Committee established an Indonesian Tsunami Relief Fund which raised money to help Indonesians who lost their homes after a 9.0-magnitude earthquake erupted 95 miles off Indonesia’s Sumatra Island, triggering a tidal wave that ripped across the Indian Ocean.

For more information, please contact Robert R. Heuermann, Jr. executive director, St. Louis Center for International Relations, at 001.314.863.6777. Media relations contact: Jeff Dunlap at 001.314.721.5505. * * *