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SALINAS, Calif. - Salinas has 4 soon to be 5 sister cities, one in the Philippines, one in Japan and two in Mexico, which represent the Salinas community. We're told having a sister city comes with great benefits.
"It does create economic opportunity, create tourism opportunities, it creates educational and cultural opportunities and in a global world, I think that's increasingly important," said Salinas Mayor Dennis Donohue.
Salinas Mayor Dennis Donohue said these sister cities meet the interest of local residents. He called Salinas culturally diverse with Mexicans, Filipinos and Japanese people. Recently, local Chinese citizens said they want to be part of the program.
"We've approved it. We're waiting on the Chinese government to approve. My understanding is Youyang is on board and they are going to send that off to Bejing," said Mayor Donohue.
Mayor Donohue said China is using the sister city program to improve economic development.
"I think that anytime you have people together, you engage in commerce, for instance if you are promoting tourism opportunities, people come to visit you and spend dollars," said Mayor Donohue.
Monterey is also cashing in on the program. Tuesday night, it approved a new sister city Lankaran, Azerbaijan. Monterey is hoping to learn more about cultural art and historic preservation from the cities.
