Nunavut inks pact with Inner Mongolia

IQALUIT — Representatives of the governments of Nunavut and the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region of China met last week in Iqaluit to talk about cooperating with each other.

Wang Fengqi, the vice-chairman of Inner Mongolia, signed a memorandum with Nunavut’s deputy premier, Kelvin Ng, in which they agreed to work towards a long-term, stable relationship.

Closer ties between the two regions arose in February when Nunavut’s premier, Paul Okalik, visited China with theTeam Canada federal trade mission.

Fengqi and Ng agreed that the deal is more important for social and culture reasons than for business.

“We consider Nunavut a window for understanding this, your colourful region,” Fengqi said.

Inner Mongolia, located in the northwestern corner of China, is a large, sparsely populated territory. The region is known for the production of cashmere and its potential for resource development.

The Inner Mongolian’s also visited Cape Dorset.

A group from Nunavut is expected to go to Inner Mongolia in 2002 and work on an “official friendly relationship.”