Pretoria — Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane is in Europe to promote the province and strengthen ties with its foreign partners.

Mokonyane and her delegation, which are in Munich today, will also visit the Free State of Bavaria until Wednesday.

Gauteng has a sisterhood agreement with the Free State of Bavaria dating back to 1995.

The areas of cooperation include facilitation of strategic investments in sectors; cultural activities and tourism; education and training with special emphasis on science, mathematics and life orientation; rural development and infrastructure investment; safety and security; and exchanges on research and development.

Mokonyane also participated in the International Conference on "Lands of the World - Communities for the World", which ended on Saturday in the city of Milan, Italy.

The other regions or provinces which participated in the meeting included Greater London, Abu Dabi, lle-de-France, Shanghai, California, New South Wales, Bavaria and Ontario and Cairo.

The conference, which was the first of its kind, discussed the challenges of the current global economic crisis among others.

The conference also explored ways of maintaining lasting relations among like-minded regions and provinces.