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Mayor of Liverpool and lifelong Everton fan Joe Anderson has been spotted posing with a Liverpool FC banner - but don’t worry Blues fans, he hasn’t given up his Goodison season ticket just yet.

The city leader was pictured with a group of Liverpool fans in Indonesia, where he is currently on a visit to.

Mayor Anderson and council colleague Gary Millar are in the port city of Surabaya on the island of Java, where they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the city’s leaders.

According to tweets from the British Embassy in Indonesia, the MoU means that Liverpool and Surabaya are now ‘sister cities.’

The embassy said that the partnership will see the two cities work together on areas including football, creative industries and how best to utilise each city’s water fronts.

The embassy also confirmed that Mayor Anderson has invited his counterparts from Surabaya to attend the International Business Festival, which is being held in Liverpool on June 2018.

A tweet from the embassy read: “Sister City cooperation between #SurabayaLiverpool connects the two cities for a better future. We look forward to working together & create a stronger foundation in port management, creative economy, smart cities & capacity building on human resources.”

Following the trip,Cllr Millar thanked ambassador Moazzam Malik for hosting the Liverpool delegation.

He said: “Thank you so much to His Excellency Moazzam Malik and his hardworking team at the British Embassy in Indonesia for their work in helping grow Liverpool’s relationship with Surabaya.”

Last month, the ECHO reported how Ambassador Malik - a Liverpool fan - believes that the Reds’ massive Indonesian fan base can help to bring investment to our city.

Asked what Liverpool meant to Indonesians, he said: “They know about Liverpool football, music and its port. They’re the three things that make Liverpool stand out for Indonesians.”

And he added: “There’s so much potential in this market through football, not only to push football but to push a wider range of business partnerships and relationships.”

Liverpool FC has an estimated 66.1 million followers in Indonesia according to research by SportsDNA in 2014.

The club last visited the country on tour in 2013 when 90,000 people watched the Reds beat the Indonesia XI.

It has one central Official Supporters Club in Indonesia, with 24 sub branches, which is one of the largest in Asia.

The club’s Indonesian language website was launched in May 2013. Its Indonesian Facebook page launched in June 2013 and now has nearly 3 million likes.