In this issue

Dated: 21 December 2010

• From the National Office
• Building economic links in China
• Kurashiki Gift
• Xiamen Doctors Visit Wellington
• Connected, Relevant, Rewarding - Masterton Conference 2011
• AIR NZ AWARDS - 2011

Rotorua District Council signals their intention to establish an Economic friendly city relationship with Nanjing, China

Rotorua responded to a request made by Nanjing Foreign Affairs Office through to the NZ Sister Cities National Office,  for a NZ city to establish a formal relationship with Nanjing. Rotorua has a Sister City relationship with Wuzhong in the District of Suzhou and has already had the same economic project involvement with Nanjing. Rotorua Mayor Kevin Winters and the RDC Manager of Economic Development, Grant Kilby, have visited Nanjing on a number of occasions. As a result of Rotorua’s expression of interest, Mayor Kevin Winters received an invitation to attend the World Historical & Cultural Cites Expo in Nanjing. Mayor Winters was unable to attend due to Local Government elections and  recommended that Sue White attend as his representative in her capacity as Sister Cities Manager, .All travel and accommodation costs were covered by Nanjing Foreign Affairs Office.

The Expo was held in Nanjing from 20-23 October and the Nanjing Foreign Affairs Office hosted 23 representatives from cities around the world. The 23 delegates at the Expo represented cities in Malaysia , France, Mexico, Belgium, Philippines, Australia, Japan, Italy, Switzerland as well as a number of Chinese cities.. As with other Chinese cities, Nanjing is wanting to share its history and both tangible and intangible culture with the rest of the world., and Nanjing’s gift to each representative was a beautiful Nanjing Cloud Brocade Jacket which was worn to the opening ceremony and the Mayoral forum held the following morning. Sue says that the experience was a wonderful opportunity to develop more of an appreciation of Chinese culture as well as an opportunity to network with the other delegates and promote Rotorua.

Sue White is seen here with Shen Yang, a Senior Staff Member of the Division of Comprehensive and Foreign Affairs Management in the Foreign Affairs Office of the Nanjing Municipal People's Government.

Welcome to the Japan Local Government Centre Sydney

Director, Shinsuke Takigawa is happy to introduce himself as the new Director of the Japan Local Government Centre(JLGC a.k.a. CLAIR, Sydney). This office,  has been fostering the friendship between Japan and Australia/New Zealand on a local and grassroots basis for 16 years.

He says that local government in Japan, like ours, is making every effort to manage challenges such as an aging population, globalization, economic recession, climate change and so on under fiscal constraints. He believes that there is a lot that we can learn from each other and it is keen to open a dialogue to exchange ideas and experiences. 

We welcome Mr Takigawa who has been in the Sydney office since July this year and encourage you visit the office here. We look forward to working with him around fostering sister city and sister school relationships., encouraging policy dialogues , researching into multiculturalism and supporting JET Alumni's activities and encouraging their own development.

From the National Office

On behalf of President Bill Woods and Sister Cities New Zealand Board members, I would like to wish you all a joyous festive season and a Happy New Year.

This month has seen Board members David Ogden, Hiromi Morris, Bill Woods and I have the pleasure of meeting our new Ambassador for Japan, H.E. Mr Hideto Mitamura on the occasion of the Emperor's birthday.

President Bill Woods was present at the presentation of a $16,000 gift to the Christchurch Mayoral Earthquake Relief Fund from the Kurashiki Sister City Council - (see story below) and I attended the Central Government/Local Government Forum on Economic Development where a strong emphasis was placed on the importance of leveraging our Sister Cities networks in China. (Some of you will find that your Mayor will now have a heightened awareness around the opportunities  that your relationship can present, and I hope to build on that on your behalf through the Local Government Zone meetings in 2011) I was invited to contribute to the consulting process around the government's China Strategy last week as well.

We have also had a chance to welcome the Auckland team to the Sister Cities network and to continue liaison with the Japan/NZ Business Council and KEA Japan through Mia Evans - (more about that after Mia returns from Japan in late January).

As the year draws to a close, I look forward to seeing you in Masterton for Conference 27 - 29  April next year and/or in your region as the zone meetings evolve.

Merry Xmas. 

Building economic links in China

Nine  Mayors and/or Chairs of Councils, their regional EDA network partners, and a host of government officials participated in a Central and Local Government forum attended by Prime Minister John Key, and Economic Development Minister Gerry Brownlee early this month.  I attended as an official and was able to bring a first hand account of the economic activities that many of you are supporting as members. Graham Morton, Head of the China Division, MFAT spoke passionately about the role that cities with Sister City relationships in China can play and I was able to deliver a paper that demonstrated conclusively that the building of coordinated and strategic people to people relationships can bring long term benefits to a local community and its partners abroad.. If you would like a copy of the paper (which gives a broad brush view of the current activities of those towns, cities and regions actively involved) please email me at enquiry@sistercities.org.nz and I will send you a copy.

Economic Development Agencies are beginning to work alongside their Sister City partners to showcase the importance of Mayors being able to build on their long term Sister City relationship to lead delegations and open doors for business.  This was reinforced further during the business consultation process around the government's China Strategy last week, where businesses that had visited China with their Mayor had been able to access networks that had hitherto been closed to them.

I am currently working with Mia Evans from the Japan/NZ Business Council to provide similar information around our Japanese Sister City networks and explore similar business connections.

Kurashiki Gift

Following the earthquake, a group from the Christchurch  Kurashiki Sister Cities committee, led by Lyndal McMeeking and Malcolm Harris visited Kurashiki and were asked to give an update on the situation as it was at that time.  .. Both Lyndal and Warren spoke about the earthquake and the damage it had caused.The people of Kurashiki were concerned at how the people of Christchurch were coping and as a result the Kurashiki Committee and the Town Council each had a collection raising over $16,000 for the Christchurch Mayoral Relief Fund . As President Bill Woods said "Not only a sterling effort to say the least but a wonderful act of compassion for a fellow sister city."

President Bill  attended the handing over the Cheque from Christchurch's Sister City - Kurashiki. The cheque was presented to Mayor Parker by Stephen Goy the President of The Christchurch Committee along with a letter from the Mayor of Kurashiki by Mr Masatoshi Matsuka a retired journalist from Kurashiki.

The Japanese Consul Mr Shoichi Kawai a resident of Kurashiki was also present.  The people in the photo from the left are Mr Shoichi Kawai Consul in Christchurch.(Mr Kawai is from Kurashiki) Bob Parker Mayor, Steve Goy Chairman Christchurch Kurashiki Committee and Mr. Masatoshi Matsuka a resident of Kurashiki who is curently attending a language course in the city,  represented the Mayor.
 

Xiamen Doctors Visit Wellington

The importance of relationships, or Guanxi, is often referred to when doing any activity in China. This principle certainly goes to the heart of a strong, and healthy sister city relationship. Recently in Wellington, the medical field has served as an excellent context for furthering friendship between Wellington, and its Chinese sister city, Xiamen.

This relationship began three years ago, when Dr Thorsten Stanley (Senior Lecturer, Dept of Paediatrics, University of Otago / Wellington School of Medicine and Health Sciences, pictured above with Chris Lipscombe from the Xiamen Association, ) was searching for a way to link a Chinese and NZ hospital. After visiting Xiamen, and with support from the Wellington City Council and Wellington Xiamen Association, he worked to establish a link between The Wellington Hospital and Xiamen First Hospital. Today this takes the shape of an exchange programme between Doctors.

Wellington has just said good-bye to the second batch of visiting Doctors, who were hosted for three months and worked at the Wellington Hospital. They were Dr Li Nanzhu (Head of the Medical Department) and Mr. Liu Mingxue (Pediatrics, Doctor of Medicine), and both from Xiamen First Hospital, Fujian Province,

Both the Wellington and Xiamen side expressed a lot of value from the visit. Wellington staff spoke of the visiting Doctors hard work ethic and dedication to their job and learning. Whilst the Xiamen Doctors said they learnt a lot during a limited period of time. They also commented how the health systems and medical environments of China and New Zealand are very different. A Chinese Doctor might have to perform at least ten operations a day, and thus gains a rich clinical experience. Whereas, NZ Doctors have extensive medical knowledge and equipment, as well as good communication, and guidance in the workplace.

Future collaborations from the scheme are already being discussed, especially in the areas of research and exploring Chinese approaches to Medicine. All of this bodes very well for supporting the overall sister city relationship and a great case study of what could be done in other areas or industries.
 

Connected, Relevant, Rewarding - Masterton Conference 2011

With plenty of inter-active sessions planned, Masterton’s 2011 conference organisers are taking their ‘connected and relevant’ theme seriously.

 “It’s crucial for delegates to connect with each other, reinforcing our international sister city connections,” said Masterton Mayor Gary Daniell.“We will highlight shared experiences, to keep the conference truly relevant for delegates wanting make sister city relationships work well. We are aiming for a good balance of strategic and tactical thinking, and this also picks up clear feedback from the Dunedin conference,” he said.

 A series of short, sharp Sister Cities in Action summaries will cover a practical range of themes from art and culture to sports to economic alliances.

 On the social side, Masterton is springing some surprises. The Wednesday night welcoming function has an artistic angle at Aratoi Gallery and Museum. On Thursday night delegates embark on a mystery adventure for the evening; definitely casual dress, expect anything. By contrast, on Friday night the Awards Dinner will have a Royal Wedding theme; dressing up encouraged, morning suit and tiaras optional. Later that night, in one of the Copthorne Solway’s comfortable lounges, Kate and William’s wedding will be shown on a big screen.

Organisers encourage delegates to arrive in Wellington in time to take the comfortable new train to Masterton on Wednesday 27 April, leaving Wellington station at 12.55pm. Otherwise, a coach will leave Te Papa at approximately 2.30pm. Air New Zealand ‘s direct Auckland –Masterton flight arrives at 7.45pm. Book early to get the best fares.

27-29 April 2011, Copthorne Solway Resort, Masterton

Enquiries here:

AIR NZ AWARDS - 2011

The Brochure for the AIRNZ Awards 2011 is now on the website. click here to view: Please read the conditions carefully and note the categories. We know that many of you do wonderful work at all levels to build and maintain your international relationshuips and we look forward to seeing the fruits of those in your entries. We are looking at ways to feature all the entries at conference this year and hope that you will have representative available to speak to your entry.

We acknowledge our sponsor - AirNZ Ltd and thank them for their continued support.