On Monday, 10 March 2025, Premier Alan Winde signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Western Cape Government and the Regional Council of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, further extending the two region’s long-standing partnership.
“In times of geopolitical uncertainty, further solidifying international partnerships such as the one we concluded with the Regional Council of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, provides much-needed stability. The Western Cape embodies this stability and remains committed to deepening relations with nations and regions who share our priorities,” stated Premier Winde during the signing ceremony.
Patrick Molinoz, Vice-President of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, responsible for Digital Transition, Innovation, European Policies, International Affairs and Exports added, “Partnerships of this kind are of utmost importance for our citizens, not only because they are key to better understanding what we share as human beings, but also because they concretely help to develop employment opportunities and stimulate businesses and economic growth, both here in the Western Cape and in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.”
The provincial government and the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of France have enjoyed a solid and mutually beneficial relationship since 2002.
This latest MoU will extend successful cooperation beyond agriculture, into – among other priority areas – strengthening economic development, addressing climate change, and improving both regions’ public health and innovation capabilities for another five years.
The Premier stressed that the MoU’s priority areas must be implemented with urgency, with particular emphasis on developing the economies of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and the Western Cape to create more jobs.
A vital area of cooperation is taking steps to mitigate the impact of the climate change crisis. Western Cape Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, Anton Bredell, said, “In these days of complicated international diplomacy, one must treasure established relationships. It is of great strategic value to see how the twinning arrangement between our regions has grown from being agricultural-focused, to now including a wide range of issues of mutual interest. Two of these issues, water resilience and climate change, are key priorities of our government, and we will explore these areas of cooperation through implementing tangible projects to enable us to better manage these critical issues.”
Premier Winde concluded, “We deeply value this partnership, which we see as part of our broader relationship with France – a country that shares our vision for a strong, international united front where we can build on our economic ties with the needs of our residents at the centre of this agreement.”
Freak
Saudi Arabia: You have two cows. Because they are not allowed to be around bulls.
sir shark
So I\’m real good friends with this guy named Juan Ted. Now, Juan is a pretty improbable guy. He can steal ANYTHING he wants to. Literally anything. It could be the shirt off your back, the wallet in your pocket, or I\’m even sure he\’d find a way to steal your house (And your spouse too). So anyway, one day Juan and I are sitting around watching TV, and they announced that the hope diamond will not be on display anymore and is now getting moved to an undisclosed location. So as we hear this, Juan says \”I\’m gonna steal it\”. Now I know how good Juan is at this kind of stuff, so I just tell him good luck and he goes on his way. Eventually he narrows his search down to a small cave in South Africa. When Juan gets there, he doesn\’t see any guards or anything outside the cave, so he just walks in assuming he was wrong about where the diamond was. He wanders around for a while until he sees a long lit hallway with the hope diamond at the end of it. Confident in his abilities, he strolls over to the diamond and picks it up before realizing its a trap! Suddenly, red lights flashed, armed men came running out, sirens went off. You could hear one of the men say under his breath \”We finally caught Juan Ted.\” But Juan, being the best thief in the world, said \”Not quite. On the count of three, I will disappear.\” As the men looked around confused, Juan began to count. \”Uno. Dos.\” And he disappeared without a tres.