Eden Prairie Superintendent of Schools Dr. Melissa Krull, Eden Prairie businessman Terry Bunge and I just had a very successful lunch meeting last Friday with Mr. Lili Pan, the Eden Prairie-based consultant working on behalf of the Chinese delegation from Loudi, Hunan, China that will be visiting Minnesota in February. Terry is a new member of the Habitat For Technology (HFT) Board and was a member of Governor Pawlenty�s recent trade mission to China.
The Chinese characters at the top of this post say, I think, “Hunan Province”. In the map immediately below the characters, the green area is Loudi (low-DEE). In the map of China below that, Hunan province is in south central China.
As part of their visit to our state, they are planning a two-day visit to Eden Prairie. It looks like we will have the opportunity to set up a business seminar luncheon on February 23, and a half-day school visit on the 24th. Melissa, Terry and I are working with the other members of the Habitat For Technology (HFT) board of directors to prepare for this visit. We have a special board meeting scheduled this week to bring the entire HFT board up to speed with where this partnership is heading. Our partnership with Loudi, China looks very promising and exciting.
There will be at least one, and perhaps more, formal opportunities for the elected and appointed leadership of our City to meet with the Mayor of Loudi, while he and his entourage are here in Eden Prairie. The schedule for their time here is a bit fluid right nowbut we believe we’ve got them in Eden Prairie for at least a day and a half.
We are anticipating signing some agreements with the government officials of Loudi which commit both parties to future exchanges and mutual understanding. We hope that we will be able to ease the process in Loudi for Eden Prairie businesses to expand their operations there. We hope this will increase the level of prosperity in both countries and be mutually beneficial for our respective citizens.
