Recently, Charlotte's City Council voted to merge Charlotte Sister Cities (CSC) and the Mayor's International Cabinet (MIC) creating the Charlotte International Cabinet (CIC).  By combining the resources of the MIC and CSC, the Charlotte International Cabinet will more effectively provide for the growing needs of our community and will accentuate Charlotte's business, cultural, and educational exchanges.

What does the merger mean for the Sister Cities programs that have been a part of the Charlotte community for 46 years?

Sister Cities programs will continue to run and many of our city relationships are thriving!  Each of our sister cities will be run by a separate committee under the new organizational structure, just as they were before, and our programs will continue to meet the goal of citizen diplomacy and direct contact with our sister cities through educational, cultural and civic exchanges.  The CIC calendar for the coming year is already very full, and our sister cities relationships will be central to all of our activities.

Our most exciting news is that, thanks to a larger staff after the merger, we are now finally able to look at adding sister cities.  Proposals for new partnerships that have been on the table for a long time can now be properly considered, and we expect to name several new cities in the near future.  We are already most of the way through the process of adding our eighth city, Hadera, Israel.  There is already a very strong relationship between Hadera and Charlotte thanks to the Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte, which is already running successful educational, cultural and civic exchanges between the two cities.

Our Charlotte Sister Cities organization (as part of the Charlotte International Cabinet) will continue to be part of Sister Cities International. 

Arequipa, Perú (Ah-Reh-KEEP-Ah)
Charlotte's first Sister City. The city, famous for its historic center built from volcanic rock, is called the "White City." Tourism and agriculture are the main industries. Arequipa became our Sister City in 1962.

Krefeld, Germany (Kray-Feld)
Located on the west bank of the Rhine River, near Holland. A major industrial town, Krefeld has steel, chemical, food processing, and textile plants. Known as the "silk and velvet" capital of Europe. Krefeld became our Sister City in 1985.

Baoding, People's Republic of China (Bow-ding)
Located only 70 miles from Beijing, Baoding is over 2300 years old. Its economy is based on production of film, chemicals, food and textiles. Baoding became our Sister City in 1987.

Voronezh, Russia (Vah-ROH-nesh)
Voronezh is located 350 miles south of Moscow and dates from 1585. Czar Peter the Great later established a ship-building center there. The city eventually became a major industrial air and space technology center. It is restructuring its industrial base to meet current demands. Voronezh became our Sister City in 1991.

Limoges, France (Leem-OGE with a soft g)
Limoges is 229 miles south of Paris. Famous for its beautiful porcelain and enamel pieces, it is also home to a championship basketball team and has many industrial and research facilities. Limoges became our Sister City in 1992.

Wroc³aw, Poland (VROTS-wahv)
Located 170 miles from Warsaw, the city dates back to the 11th century and has rebuilt itself in the last decade. A world famous classical musical festival is held every fall. Industries include metalworking, electronics, chemicals and textiles. Wroclaw became our Sister City in 1993.

Kumasi, Ghana (Koo-MA-si)
The 2nd largest city in Ghana and is capital of the Ashanti Region, a land of ancient African royalty. The economy is based on agriculture, manufacturing and the mining of timber, gold and diamonds. Kente cloth is also produced in Kumasi. Kumasi became our Sister City in 1995.

Hadera, Israel (Ha-DER-a)
Hadera means "green" in Arabic, which was derived from the city being built on top of swampy marsh land in the late 1800s. Hadera is home to the OAIPM, paper mill factory and the Orot Rabin Power Station in Hadera which supplies 60% of its power to the country. Located along the flourishing coast of Israel, Hadera has a population of 80,000 and was established in 1891.