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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
CONTACT: Michelle Reardon |
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Friday, April 7, 2000 |
302/577-8701 |
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Wilmington, DE - The newly elected mayor of the City of Kalmar, Sweden, the Honorable Kjell Henriksson, led a delegation of six representatives of the city's business and housing communities to Wilmington, Delaware today to discuss Kalmar's plans to enhance the Sister City relationship between the City of Kalmar and the City of Wilmington. Those plans include locating a Baltic Business Office in Wilmington to facilitate the business, cultural and educational exchange between Sweden and the United States. "The City of Kalmar has been an excellent partner for not only Wilmington but the entire Delaware business community," said Darrell J. Minott, Director of the Delaware Economic Development Office (DEDO), who was one of the hosts of the Kalmar delegation visit. The Kalmar delegation invited their Delaware counterparts to Sweden to participate in a Baltic business regional conference in September 2000. Minott added, "We look forward to participating in this conference and hope to increase Delaware's business relationships with the Baltic region." In addition to a physical presence in Delaware, the Kalmar delegation has begun talks with the Delaware Economic Development Office to create a government exchange program between government officials from Delaware and Kalmar. DEDO currently has established a similar exchange with Myagi, Japan as part of the relationship between the State of Delaware and the Prefecture of Myagi (a prefecture is similar to a state). As part of the delegation's visit, Tomas Eriksson, Managing Director of Kalmarhem Ltd., part of the City of Kalmar's Housing Department, gave a presentation to Delaware housing officials and members of the state General Assembly about an environmentally-conscious housing project recently completed in Kalmar. Inspektoren, a public housing complex that has been renovated using environmental and adaptive reuse techniques, was able to complete all the renovations at the same cost as a normal rehab project without the environmental amenities. These environmental enhancements include a sewage system that runs to the City's 'bio-gas' facility, where waste is converted into fuel for automobiles, and collection of 'grey water' including rain water and dishwater in an on-site pond, used to water plants and vegetable gardens. Representatives from the City of Kalmar also announced their excitement about a potential Trans-Atlantic voyage to be taken by the Kalmar Nyckel as soon as 2002. The Kalmar Nyckel, an authentic recreation of the ship that brought the first Swedish settlers to northern Delaware in 1638, was commissioned Delaware's "Tall Ship Ambassador" in 1998. The Kalmar delegation will meet with the International Council of Delaware, Mayor Jim Sills, the Wilmington Renaissance Corporation and the Riverfront Development Corporation among others during their stay in Delaware, from April 5 through April 8. |
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