Fishers forming sister-city relationship with suburb of Chinese city

A delegation from Fishers is headed to China to form a sister-city relationship with the Binjiang District, a suburb of Hangzhou.

“Our hope is there will be opportunity for mutual economic development,” said Mark Kosiarek, CEO of Vai Technology and a member of the board of the Fishers Chamber of Commerce.

Kosiarek, Fishers real estate developer Corby Thompson, town Councilman Art Levine and Hamilton County Councilwoman Judy Levine depart Oct. 12 for the International Sister City conference in Hangzhou.

A representative of Indianapolis, which has a sister-city agreement with Hangzhou, will also attend the conference.

Fishers’ relationship began last year, when Kosiarek and others from chambers of commerce in Indiana flew to Washington, D.C., to meet with legislators. Sen. Richard Lugar’s office helped set up a meeting at the Chinese embassy, Kosiarek said, and officials there suggested forming a relationship with Binjiang, a fast-growing suburb of Hangzhou.

Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province, is southwest of Shanghai. It’s known as a tourist destination, as well as for its high-tech industrial development zones.