TEHRAN - Isfahan Mayor has said his municipality is ready to establish closer ties with Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City based on interests and mutual needs.

Ali Ghasemzadeh on Monday proposed that Isfahan and Ho Chi Minh City may even become sister cities after they tried their hands at tourism, cultural and economic interactions.

The mayor made the remarks during a meeting with the Vietnamese ambassador to Iran, Luong Quoc Huy, IMNA reported.

“Isfahan has always welcomed interaction with other cities in a bid to define closer ties based on mutual respect,” the mayor said.

Ghasemzadeh stressed the need for finding common ground to establish special ties with the Vietnamese city. “In addition to being a historical and cultural city, Isfahan is an industrial hub with prestigious universities, so we can define collaborations in these two latter frameworks.”

To provide much-needed examples, Ghasemzadeh said: “Isfahan is one of the top cities in terms of urban development, services, and garbage collection, therefore we can share our experiences with other countries.”

Speaking to the mayor, the ambassador pointed to 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries and said: “My goal is to forge [closer] ties between the two nations, the two countries, and our cities.”

“There are many arenas for cooperation, but we are particularly interested in Isfahan’s urban management,” the ambassador said.

“In this regard, I have held fruitful discussions with some businesspersons [and private investors] to foster commercial relations.”

Moreover, the envoy invited the mayor and an economic delegation to visit Ho Chi Minh City to formulate principles for establishing a sisterhood relation between the two cities.

Soaked in a rich history, Isfahan was once a crossroad of international trade and diplomacy in Iran and now it is one of Iran’s top tourist destinations for good reasons. It is filled with many architectural wonders such as unmatched Islamic buildings, bazaars, museums, Persian gardens, and tree-lined boulevards. It's a city for walking, getting lost in its mazing bazaars, dozing in beautiful gardens, and meeting people.

Moreover, Isfahan is renowned not only for the abundance of great historical bridges but also for its ‘life-giving river’, the Zayandeh-Rood, which has long bestowed the city an original beauty and fertility.

The ancient city has long been nicknamed as Nesf-e-Jahan which is translated into “half the world”; meaning seeing it is relevant to see half the world. In its heyday, it was also one of the largest cities in the region with a population of nearly one million.

Apart from being a cultural heritage gem, modern Isfahan is now home to some heavy industry, including steel factories and a nuclear facility on its outskirts, however, its inner core wants to be preserved as a priceless gem. The city is also home to a gigantic, professional, and state-of-the-art healthcare city, which is a major destination in the realm of medical tourism.

AFM