The recently re-elected mayor of Thessaloniki, Yiannis Boutaris, speaking on the Greek program of SBS radio, confirmed that he will visit Melbourne in November in order to celebrate with the Greek Australian community the 30th anniversary of the sister-city relationship between Melbourne and Thessaloniki.
Yiannis Boutaris, the 72-year-old mayor of Greece’s second largest city, is a Greek businessman-winemaker – and environmentalist – who was elected mayor in 2010 running as a progressive independent. In 2012 he was chosen as ‘the best mayor of the world’ for the month of October, by the City Mayors Foundation, an organisation based in the United Kingdom.
Speaking on SBS radio, Yiannis Boutaris cited as his successes in his first term as mayor of Thessaloniki the financial management of the city, the improvement in waste collection including recycling, and the public recognition of many unrecognised until recently aspects of the history and the culture of his city.
Amongst others he stated that by acknowledging the Jewish and Muslim past of city’s history, Thessaloniki was able to welcome in 2013 approximately 200,000 tourist from Turkey and Israel.
The mayor of Thessaloniki stressed that his main priority in his second term will be to fight unemployment, by using European funds and by encouraging and supporting startup companies and new entrepreneurship.