Holden to sign sister-city deal with Turkish city

Mayor-President Kip Holden will sign a sister-city agreement Tuesday with Gov. Mehmet Ulvi Saran of Malatya, Turkey, and Ertan Mumcu, Malatya’s deputy mayor.

Malatya, a city of about 400,000 people in eastern Turkey, grows 65 percent of the world’s apricots and Holden, after visiting Malatya in June and signing the first part of a sister-city agreement, has been working to create distribution opportunities in the U.S. that could include Associated Grocers Inc.

City-parish officials said Baton Rouge and Malatya will exchange experts and staff to promote the development of each city in business and cultural areas. Malatya also has a thriving textile industry.

Witnessing the ceremony Tuesday at the Metro Council chambers will be 13 businessmen from Malatya, who’ll also visit the Baton Rouge Area Chamber to discuss business development opportunities.