Press Releases 2008
San Francisco-Thessaloniki Sister Cities Relationship Revived
Thessaloniki, July 28, 2008: San Francisco and Thessaloniki became “sister cities” when the Honorable Art Agnos, a Greek-American from Massachusetts who was then Mayor of this well-known California city, and the Honorable Konstantinos Kosmopoulos, signed a joint declaration on August 7, 1990. They agreed to “further the traditional links of friendship between San Francisco and Thessaloniki and to affirm the mutual intention to work in unison for the benefit of their cities and nations.” In the 18 years that have passed since that day, however, the two cities have lost touch with one another, despite the fact that they have so much in common: a port, almost the same size population, a vital art scene, universities, museums, and lots of cafés!
In the spirit of reviving this important tie between two port cities, the U.S. Consulate General, in cooperation with the Municipality of Thessaloniki recently hosted the visit of Ms. Roberta Economidis, Special Consultant of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, aimed at promoting the sister-city relationship.
Ms. Economidis met with the Mayor of Thessaloniki Mr. Vassilis Papageorgopoulos, the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Thessaloniki Mr. Demetris Bakatselos, the Managing Director of the Port of Thessaloniki Dr. Ioannis Tsaras, HELEXPO President Mr. Aristotelis Thomopoulos, and the director of the American Hellenic Chamber of Commerce, Thessaloniki branch Mr. Nikos Tsavdaroglou to discuss possibilities for future cooperation between the two cities, including technology, tourism and culture. Ms. Economidis also followed the events of this year’s “Naval Week” in Thessaloniki and visited the Macedonian and State Museums of Contemporary Art. The visit was organized by the U.S. Consulate General in cooperation with the Municipality of Thessaloniki in a common effort to revive the sister city relationship between the two port cities and to organize a future visit by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom to Thessaloniki, next May 2009.
