Ed Lee heading to India for sister-city initiative trip

Practically before there is time for Thanksgiving leftovers, Mayor Ed Lee will be jetting off to India as part of a sister-city initiative with Bangalore — the most recent economic trip Lee has made in the past year.

Lee is scheduled to depart from San Francisco on Friday to lead the trade mission to Bangalore, according to the San Francisco-Bangalore Sister City Initiative. The trip is scheduled to include 54 senior business leaders from industries that include construction, engineering, health care and technology.

On the Bangalore trip, Lee is expected to speak with officials about topics such as recycling, waste management and world ecology.

“Bangalore’s explosive growth continues, bringing with it a host of opportunities and challenges,” said Madhav Misra, co-chair of the San Francisco-Bangalore Sister City Initiative, in a statement. “Our sister city is keen to learn from and collaborate with San Francisco and the Bay Area, which has successfully implemented multibillion-dollar infrastructure improvement programs. They have built world-class water, waste management, recycling, civic administration, transportation, health care and other public services.”

During the visit, a deal is expected to be signed that will set up help desks in Bangalore and San Francisco to help business people in each city get assistance in launching products and services in the other country, according to the organization.

The trip is just the latest that Lee has made internationally, including jaunts to other cities with which San Francisco has sister-city relationships. Lee has made three trips to China this year, in between which he also traveled to Cork, Ireland, and Paris.

S.F.’s global siblings

Osaka, Japan

Sydney, Australia

Taipei, Taiwan

Assisi, Italy

Haifa, Israel

Seoul, South Korea

Shanghai, China

Manila, Philippines

Cork, Ireland

Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire

Thessalonki, Greece