The Honorable Mayor Beto Richa of Curitiba, Brazil, joined Mayor John Peyton and members of the Jacksonville Sister Cities Program and the Brazil-Jacksonville Alliance for the official signing of an international sister cities agreement between Curitiba, Brazil, and Jacksonville.

Curitiba, one of the 10 largest cities in Brazil, is in the state of Parana in the southern portion of Brazil and is known as the model city among Brazilians. Curitiba is part of a group of 10 municipalities that concentrate 25 percent of all the wealth produced in Brazil. Curitiba is the fifth-largest Brazilian capital in three key areas: number of jobs, business establishments and exports.

The Jacksonville Sister Cities program is a non-profit citizen diplomacy network that encourages partnerships between the United States and international communities. The goal is to build global cooperation at the municipal level, promote cultural understanding and stimulate economic development.

"Curitiba's rich history, thriving economy and strong position in the global marketplace will help elevate our presence in the international trade industry," said Mayor John Peyton. "Our city's partnership with Curitiba, one of the wealthiest cities in Brazil, is essential to our growing import and export business here in Jacksonville."

With the help of the Brazil-Jacksonville Alliance of Northeast Florida, this event was broadcasted live over the Internet at www.braziljacksonville.com to help demonstrate the importance of international trade and understanding that the City of Jacksonville aims to cultivate. In addition, this live Web video streaming was sent to students at Ponte Vedra High School International Academy and First Coast High School, both pioneers in offering Florida high school students the opportunity to study a Portuguese language program.

Jacksonville currently has six sister cities including: Bahia Blanca, Argentina; Masan, Korea; Murmansk, Russia; Nantes, France; Port Elizabeth, South Africa and Yingkou, China. In addition, Jacksonville has developed friendship agreements with other cities in China – Shaoxing, Suzhou and Ningbo. This designation helps the cities to build economic ties within each community and will generate tourism and trade for economic development to a greater extent.