by Alexandra Mendoza
The Cities of Chula Vista (California) and Rosarito (Baja California) signed a collaboration and friendship agreement aimed at, among other things, bolstering both cities’ economic, cultural, and tourism development.
The partnership officially materialized this week during a visit to South County by Silvano Abarca Macklis, Mayor of Rosarito, who expressed that the two neighbor cities wanted to strengthen their ties for the benefit of both of their communities.
“We are a single region, and as such we should deepen our friendship in order to understand each other better”, explained the Mayor.
Although the two cities are 30 miles apart and in different countries, their two economies depend on one another. South of the border, Rosarito depends greatly on tourism, while Chula Vista benefits from the many thousands of Baja Californians who do their shopping north of the border.
“We are the hub of a binational economy, namely the Cali-Baja region”, shared Chula Vista Mayor Mary Salas. “When they [Rosarito] do well, we do well, and vice versa”.
According to some estimations, about 15 thousand Americans reside in this Mexican city, while thousands of Baja Californians cross the border to San Diego County every day for school, business, recreation, or family reasons.
Both current local administrations have had great interest in strengthening ties on the other side of the border. On the one hand, Chula Vista already has a similar agreement in place with the city of Tijuana, and Rosarito, on the other, has done the same with the cities of Imperial Beach and National City.
“The idea behind the agreement is to see how we can mutually benefit”, indicated Mayor Abarca, who also highlighted that hotel occupation in his city has increased by 17%, with most of them being U.S. visitors.
“These ties help us build trust, for Americans to know that Rosarito is a peaceful place”, said the Mayor.
To welcome the Mexican Authorities, the Mayor of the city with most growth in San Diego since 2010 led a tour of different sites in Chula Vista, highlighting development projects such as the Olympic Training Center, the University and Innovation District, and the Millenia urban hub project, among others.