DAVAO City Councilor Rachel Zozobrado said that they expect the number of foreign dignitaries to increase in the coming months of 2026.
Zozobrado, who chairs the committee on international relations, said that by the first quarter of 2026, the number of dignitaries visiting the city had already reached 10. The dignitaries who visited the city were from Israel, the United States of America (USA), India, Belgium, the Solomon Islands, Denmark, Australia, Norway, China, and Japan, which visited twice.
“Marami na ang signify na [Many have signified that] they also want to call on the mayor and discuss possible collaborations,” she said during the Pulong-Pulong sa Dabawenyos on June 2, 2026, at the Sangguniang Panlungsod.
Zozobrado said that foreign dignitaries, during their visits, always talked about collaboration on food security, health, and education. She, however, said these were mostly exploratory ventures between the city and other countries.
She also revealed that the Deputy Ambassador of Australia to the Philippines discussed the possibility of an Australian city having a sister-city agreement with Davao City. She said that partnering with Australia would be a huge addition to the education sector since Australia is considered one of the education hubs in the world.
Meanwhile, the Davao City Investment Promotion Center said that the city now has nine local and eight international sister cities. These include Angeles, Marikina, Quezon City, Bacoor, and Liloan locally, as well as Nanning and Jinjiang in China, Kitakyushu in Japan, Bitung and Manado in Indonesia, and the U.S. cities of Tacoma and Kaua‘i.
Some of the foreign dignitaries who visited the city included Chinese Ambassador Jing Quan, who paid a courtesy call on Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte, during which they focused on bilateral relations, local-level cooperation, economic ties, and people-to-people exchanges between Davao City and China.
Japanese Ambassador Endo Kazuya visited the city as part of his lecture series at some of the educational institutions in the city, as well as to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Philippines–Japan diplomatic relations.
Ukrainian Ambassador Yuliia Fediv, during her courtesy call on Duterte, talked about cooperation in education, agribusiness, trade, and technology, while Indian Ambassador Harsh Kumar Jain highlighted possible coordination between Davao and his country in trade, investment, tourism, and academic partnerships.RGP
