Mayor Walsh signs Memorandum of Understanding with Lyon, France Vice-Mayor Karin Dognin-Sauze

Mayor Martin J. Walsh today joined Vice-Mayor of Lyon, France Karine Dognin-Sauze to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the cities of Lyon and Boston. They were joined by the Ambassador of France to the US Gérard Araud.  The MOU commits both parties to fostering economic development, innovation, entrepreneurship, sustainable development, culture, tourism, and quality education to its residents.

“We’re honored that Lyon has become a growing partner to the City of Boston. Our partnership will continue to expand upon economic, social, cultural and environmental goals that mutually benefit both cities,” said Mayor Walsh. "In order to be competitive in an increasingly global economy, we must strengthen our partnerships with cities around the world that share our goals.”

"There is a natural partnership between Boston and Lyon, as both cities are committed to innovation and entrepreneurship," said  Karine Dognin-Sauze, Vice Mayor of the City of Lyon.

"I am very glad to witness the development of relationships between Lyon and Boston,” said Ambassador of France to the US Gérard Araud. “This MOU, aiming at fostering structured collaborations in innovation, transportation, and culture, is the result of several high-level exchanges between the two cities for the past years. Both share the same passion for entrepreneurship and excellence in biotechnologies, clean technologies, and robotics, and I really wish them the best for their future collaboration."

The MOU calls for both cities to identify opportunities to generate new initiatives to further nurture economic, social, cultural and environmental based relationships, as well as:

• Continue to develop cooperation in the economic sectors that are strategic for Boston and Lyon, e.g. biotechnology, sustainable energy systems and green industries/cleantech, robotics, security and digital sector (moving images, gaming etc.);
• Encourage the exchange of experience and professional contacts related to business creation and entrepreneurship in order to promote a vibrant business culture;
• Support the development of companies abroad and exchange best practices to promote the development of internationally-integrated innovation ecosystems.
• Share best practices and encourage cooperation on innovation-focused initiatives and policies targeting social and economic equity, including measures aimed at closing the gap in living conditions, income disparity and multi-racial & multi-ethnic social integration.
• Contribute to knowledge sharing with regard to place-based and tourism-destination development.

Lyon is France’s second-largest city and a major banking and industrial center for chemical, pharmaceutical, biotech, and software companies.

On Tuesday, Mayor Walsh welcomed a visiting delegation of 20 entrepreneurs, government, and industry leaders to Big Booster’s week-long boot camp program in Boston, a program initiated by Lyon in collaboration with Boston.

Boston and Lyon continue to celebrate and promote innovation across the two partnering cities and this agreement further solidifies that effort. More information about Boston, Lyon and the Big Booster program can be found, here: http://ow.ly/Y8vPN.

MOU (English Version)
MOU (French Version)