On the morning of September 28^th ，a delegation led by Mayor of Riga from The Republic of Latvia came to IVT and they were welcomed by Dr. Shan Qiang, President of IVT.

First, Dr. Shan expressed his welcome to Mr. Janis Birks, Mayor of Riga and his wife and gave a brief introduction of the developments of IVT in the recent years. Accompanied by President Shan and Ms. Chen Yingli from Foreign Language Department, the visitors were shown around the campus and they spoke highly of the teaching environment and training equipments of our institute.

Riga, the Capital of The Republic of Latvia, is a beautiful ancient city with an area of 307.17 sq kms and a population of 840,000. It is a developed industrial city, specializing in textile, glass fiber, shoes manufacture, fish products and fragrance, and has been keeping friendly relationship with Suzhou for ten years. At the invitation of Suzhou Municipal Government, Mayor Birks expressed his confidence in broader cooperation with Suzhou in various fields including ancient city protection, economy, education and sports.

Mr. Jin Shangjun, interpreter from Jiangsu Provincial Foreign Affairs Office and Mr. Shen Hong, Division Chief from Suzhou Municipal Foreign Affairs Office attended the reception.