A memorandum of understanding covering cooperation in rail systems was signed between Metro Istanbul, a subsidiary of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Transportation Group, and the Chinese Guangzhou Metro Group Company.
Turkey's largest urban rail system operator, Metro Istanbul, and Guangzhou's Metro Group Company, one of China's largest cities, shook hands. The Union of Turkish Municipalities and the Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Ekrem İmamoğlu The signing ceremony was held under the witness of Guo Yonghang, a member of the Guandong Province Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Dr. Özgür Soy, Chairman of the Transportation Group, and Lıu Zhicheng, Chairman of the Guangzhou Metro Group Company, signed on behalf of IMM.
İmamoğlu: It will contribute greatly to the future journey of both cities
Emphasizing that he values the sharing of experience between cities, İmamoğlu said, “I always value the strongest contact with your innovative city. In this sense, I find the signatures to be made today very valuable. It is very valuable for us that Guangzhou, which has one of the longest rail system networks in the world, has signed a memorandum of understanding with our city on the metro and has started a strong mutual cooperation. With these signatures to be made at this point, both cities will make a great contribution to the journey they will take and will take, especially in terms of rail systems. I would like to thank both our administrative colleagues in our municipality and our valuable friends on the Guangzhou side who have contributed to this issue.”
Noting that there are facilitating aspects of megacities sharing their experiences at their own scales, İmamoğlu said: “In the meantime, I would like to mention that the Megacities Summit, which I also support very much, will be held in Guangzhou in 2026. We organized the first Megacities Summit in Istanbul in 2023 in cooperation with Metropolis. We have initiated such a platform.”
Istanbul is the only city in the world that connects Europe and Asia.
Guangdong Province Standing Committee Member Yonghang also made the following statement in his speech: “We are really old friends. We have established a deep bond. In fact, our two cities have many similarities. Both of our cities have very old histories. Istanbul has a history of 2 years; Guangzhou has a history of 700 years. At the same time, both cities have always been transportation centers throughout history. They are two very important cities in the global sense, especially for Europe and Asia. And the population and city size are similar.
Istanbul is the only city in the world that connects Europe and Asia, and we can call it the 'center of the world'. It really plays a very important role for human civilization and cooperation between continents. Therefore, I think we need to exchange ideas and have deep cooperation between Guangzhou and Istanbul.”
This collaboration will add value to both cities
Dr. Özgür Soy, President of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Transportation Group and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Metro Istanbul, said: “The Memorandum of Understanding we signed with Guangzhou Metro, one of the largest rail system operators in China, is an important step in our vision of international knowledge sharing and joint project development.
Dear Ekrem İmamoğluUnder the leadership of , we are strengthening our international cooperation in the field of public transportation. In this context, we will conduct joint studies with Guangzhou Metro in areas such as operational efficiency, technology sharing and sustainable transportation systems. We will benchmark in business and technical fields and develop cooperation in international markets and consultancy.
“The common vision of Istanbul and Guangzhou in the field of transportation will contribute to our cities having a smarter, safer and more efficient transportation infrastructure. I believe that this cooperation will add value to both cities and I wish it to be beneficial.”
