Sister province since: February 20, 2004

Overview

As the oldest province in the Eastern Visayas region in central Philippines, Leyte borders Carigara Bay in the north, San Juanico Strait and Leyte Gulf in the east, Visayan Sea and Ormoc Sea in the west, and Southern Leyte in the south. With a population of 1.57 million, Leyte covers an area of 5,712.8 square kilometers. The province has a rugged mountain backbone stretching from northwest to southeast. Small mountains and volcanoes can be found across the region. Local economy relies on agriculture, industry and tourism.

Relations with Hubei

Hubei and Leyte started exchanges in 2000, and maintained good contacts all the time. On February 20, 2004, then Vice Governor of Hubei Ren Shimao and Governor of Leyte Padilla officially signed theAgreement on Establishing Sister Province Relationsin Tacloban, Leyte.

In May 2000, then Governor Jiang Zhuping led a delegation to Leyte and was warmly received by Governor Padilla. The two sides expressed their common aspiration to carry out exchanges and promote cooperation in investment, trade, mechanical equipment and tobacco.

In 2001, an agricultural machinery delegation from Hubei visited Leyte. Senior executives from Yaojia Company in the Philippines led business delegations to Hubei many times. Ms. Cai spent three million yuan on acquiring Hongan Food Factory and invested 60 million yuan to build an agricultural product processing company in Luotian County.

In December 2001, Governor Padilla led a 22-member delegation to Hubei from December 11 to 15, and signed theAgreement on Establishing Friendly Exchanges and Cooperation between Hubei Province and Leyte Province. In addition, the two sides jointly hosted the briefing of Hubei Province and Leyte Province and the project promotional conferences.

In February 2004, then Vice Governor Ren Shimao visited Leyte. The two sides signed the official agreement on establishing sister province relations.

In June 2005, Deng Daokun, then Vice Chairman of Hubei Provincial People’s Congress, was invited to visit Leyte. This trip stepped up the implementation of the development project of the two rivers. The two sides agreed to give priority to the joint implementation of the water diversion project and promote quality crop varieties and technological cooperation.