Izmir Metropolitan Mayor Tunç Soyer received a delegation from the representatives of the Mediterranean Network of Cities which included Izmir.

Joe Antoun, İssam Bou Rached, Abdüllah Abdul Wahab, Mira Tadros, Maawad Salim and Konstantia Nikopoulu were on the Mediterranean Network of Cities’ delegation that visited Izmir Metropolitan Mayor Tunç Soyer as well as Onur Eryüce and Güven Eken, the advisers of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality,

The delegation reported the efforts of the Mediterranean Network of Cities and stated their intention to make most of the experiences Izmir has in TER-BRAND project that prioritizes ecotourism and regional branding and the Mayor Soyer replied as follows: “The Mediterranean Network of Cities is also very important for not limiting your efforts with your city and for testing, sharing your experiences”.

The delegation of representatives from the Mediterranean Network of Cities will be in Izmir for a four-day visit and discuss tourism diversification strategies, nature tourism and rural tourism with different departments of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality and a number of organizations in the city.
In 1991, the Mediterranean Network of Cities was founded in Barcelona as an initiative of the Mediterranean Technical Assistance Programme (METAP), which is an organization established by the World Bank, European Investment Bank, European Commission and United Nations Development Program (UNDP), for drawing attention to the problem of urban environmental problems in the Mediterranean and working on the problem of sustainable development.

Izmir became a member of the Mediterranean Network of Cities in 2006 and Executive Committee member of the Mediterranean Network of Cities General Assembly in 2018.