Mayor Melvin “Kip” Holden of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA, accompanied by Jason Chue, Deputy Director of Kaohsiung Branch, American Institute in Taiwan, visited Mayor Lin Chia-lung of Taichung City today (9). Mayor Lin expressed that Taichung City and Baton Rouge are sister cities, and he welcomes Mayor Holden to visit Taichung. He expects that in the future he will have the opportunity to visit Baton Rouge to promote further exchange between the cities.

Baton Rouge is the capital as well as educational, cultural, political, and economics center of Louisiana. In addition, it is the location of the state council. Accompanied by Jason Chue, Deputy Director of Kaohsiung Branch, American Institute in Taiwan, Mayor Melvin “Kip” Holden of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA visited Taichung City Government today. Accompanied by Deputy Secretary-General Li Xian-yi of Taichung City Government, Director-General Zhou Ting-chang and Secretary-General Li Ru-Fang of Water Resource Bureau, both parties engaged in vivid exchanges in a conference in a relax and happy atmosphere.

Holden expressed that Baton Rouge is the sister city of Taichung City. He takes pleasure in visiting Mayor Lin Chia-lung of Taichung City. This trip also symbolizes the close and sustaining friendship between the two cities. He is deeply impressed by the rapid development of Taichung and believes that in the future the two cities will have more and frequent exchanges.

Mayor Lin welcomed the visit of Mayor Holden enthusiastically. In the talk, they shared their experiences of governing cities, including improving public order in Taichung City and the continuous engagement in the renewal of the central district. In addition, the city has attracted plenty of investment and visitors to the city. In this year, CNN has also praised Taichung to be the most livable city in Taiwan. He hopes that through dialogs and exchanges, Taichung City and Baton Rouge will become the most livable places in their own countries.

Holden has already been re-elected as the Mayor of Baton Rouge thrice. He said he always interacts with the people at the grass roots level as well as eating lunch with children in order to understand their needs. Making contact with people not only enables him to listen to the public opinion but also transforms their suggestions into power for reformation. Mayor Lin agrees with his thinking strongly. He emphasizes that going deep into the grass roots and exchanging with people are the keys of successful governing.

Holden presented the book on Baton Rouge to Mayor Lin, who was very happy and expressed that he would read it closely soon. He also expects to visit Baton Rouge in the future.