Lugano signs an agreement with El Salvador

Today, Michele Foletti, Mayor of Lugano, and Milena Mayorga, El Salvador’s Ambassador to the United States, announced that the City of Lugano and the Republic of El Salvador have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on economic cooperation. The announcement was made during the inaugural Plan B Forum, an event that brought together the top international experts of the Bitcoin and Blockchain world.

Lugano and El Salvador will collaborate in the crypto ecosystem

The formal signing of the agreement between the two parties took place yesterday at Palazzo Civico: Mayor Michele Foletti, Deputy Mayor Roberto Badaracco, Municipal Councillors Cristina Zanini Barzaghi, Filippo Lombardi, Lorenzo Quadri, and Tiziano Galeazzi and Municipal Secretary Robert Bregy received H.E. Joaquín Alexander Maza Martelli, Ambassador of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of El Salvador to the United Nations Office at Geneva, and H.E. Milena Mayorga, Ambassador of El Salvador to the United States.  

Mayor Michele Foletti said: 

“Thanks to Bitcoin and the pioneering path undertaken by both your Government and the City of Lugano, it was possible to build this collaboration, which resulted in the Memorandum of Understanding of economic cooperation between the City of Lugano and the Government of the Republic of El Salvador.

It is our common interest to promote cooperation and the development of synergies in the context of Lugano Plan B, in support of the institutions and companies of our territories. We are interested in El Salvador’s experiences adopting bitcoin as a legal tender. We want to continue proposing initiatives in collaboration with educational and research institutions and private and public partners to create knowledge and skills in our territory and support its competitiveness”.

For his part, Ambassador Joaquín Alexander Maza Martelli said that the signing of the Memorandum would consolidate relations and exchanges between the two entities:

“The use of Bitcoin and Blockchain technology creates new opportunities for growth and investment that benefit our communities; it is a new alternative financial and exchange tool that fosters trade and the provision of services in a globalized world. With this agreement, El Salvador is now much closer to Europe”.  

The Memorandum of Understanding also provides for the physical presence of a representation of the Government of El Salvador on the territory of Lugano, which will foster cooperation with educational and research institutions, encouraging the development of initiatives related to this technology. 

Finally, El Salvador’s Ambassador to the United States Milena Mayorga emphasized:

“I am so pleased to have been able to announce this history-making partnership between the innovative city of Lugano and my beloved home country of El Salvador. We share a love for innovation and bold ideas, and this initiative will be a game-changer in the exchange of ideas and best practices in economic freedom.

My fellow Salvadorans and I are very excited by the promise of Bitcoin, and I look forward to seeing how this partnership will help increase access to economic security and economic freedom for all, one of the main goals of President Nayib Bukele’s government”.