KARACHI, May 11: The civic administrations of Karachi and Iranian city of Mashhad have signed a memorandum of understanding to declare the two as ‘sister cities’, a statement said on Friday.

“Syed Mohammed Pezhman, the lord mayor of Mashhad and administrator of KMC Mohammed Hussain Syed signed a memorandum of understanding [MoU] to declare Karachi and Iranian city Mashhad as sister cities,” said the KMC statement.

However, the statement  did not elaborate the significance of the understanding.

“Earlier the lord mayor of Mashhad along with his delegation visited the Civic Centre where administrator Mohammed Hussain Syed briefed them about the city’s infrastructure, development projects, financial resources and different departments of the KMC.”

On this occasion, the statement said, the Mashhad mayor offered cooperation in railway, solid waste management, education and transport sectors.

The administrator of KMC said that relations between the two countries were strong and centuries old.

Mr Syed briefed the delegation about development process going on in the city.

He said more than 500 projects were under way in Karachi, including the mass transit system, solid waste management, construction of underpasses and flyovers and bus rapid system, which were initiated under financial and technical collaboration with different countries.

“Iran and Pakistan have a potential and we must take benefit of the technical capabilities and experiences of experts in both countries,” the statement quoted Mr Syed as saying.

Mashhad mayor Pezhman said that his visit was aimed at extending mutual cooperation between the two civic administrations, which would give a boost to trade, cultural and business activities in both countries.