Building people-to-people and economic relationships
www.sistercities.org.nz
ISSUE 12 - 2014
FROM THE BOARD
2015 ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Citizen Diplomacy - Its power locally and globally
10-11 April 2015
The theme for next year’s conference has been confirmed as Citizen Diplomacy - Its Power locally and globally. The conference is to be held at the James Cook Hotel in Wellington. The Board believes this theme will create a lot of discussion and interest as it encompasses all aspects of Sister City relationships.
ASIA NZ FOUNDATION CELEBRATES 20 YEARS President of Sister Cities New Zealand, Hiromi Morris, recently attended the Asia New Zealand Foundation’s Honorary Advisers’ Dinner on 22 July 2014 at the Northern Club in Auckland as a part of the 20th anniversary celebration, hosted by Hon Philip Burdon, Chairman of the Foundation. It was an excellent event that was addressed by the previous Governor General of New Zealand, Sir Anand Satyanand, as well as one of the Honorary Advisers, Mr Roberto Romulo, Chairman of AIG Philippines Insurance, Inc. and John McKinnon, Executive Director of the Foundation. Fellow Director of Sister Cities New Zealand, Jordan Lee, was also present as one of two MCs for the evening. Hiromi comments that “I am pleased to be able to share this special occasion which reinforced our close working relationship with Asia New Zealand Foundation.”
From left, Hon Philip Burdon, Debra Atkin (M/C), Adele Mason (Deputy Executive Director), Hiromi, Jordan and John McKinnon
CELEBRATING EGYPT’S NATIONAL DAY Last Month, President Hiromi and Board representative Bing Lou, were invited to celebrate the Arab Republic of Egypt’s National Day, hosted by Egyptian Ambassador, His Excellency Mr Mahmound Zayed. It was a great networking evening held at the Wellington Club and much was learned about the relationship between Egypt and New Zealand. Relations between the two countries go back to the early 1940s and have increasingly expanded today, including a number of New Zealanders working in Egypt as English teachers, and nearly $200 million worth of trade exchange between the two countries. The New Zealand Embassy in Cairo was inaugurated in 2007 by then Prime Minister Helen Clark, and the Egyptian Embassy in Wellington was opened in April 2010.
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NEWS & EVENTS TIMARU SISTER CITY TRIP A GREAT SUCCESS
Mayor Damon Odey and Clr Steve Wills led a delegation that included Tony Howey, president of the SC Chamber of Commerce, Alex Cabrera CEO from the Aoraki Polytechnic and his team to our Sister Cities of Weihai, China and Eniwa, Japan. Visiting Weihai first they were warmly welcomed by Mayor Madam Zhang Hui, Economic Development Director as well as business and education leaders with discussions ranging from land use to value added produce to imports and exports. Various tertiary institutions and secondary schools were visited and memoranda of understanding signed, setting in motion opportunities to have Chinese students study at Aoraki Polytechnic. The establishment of an internship programme is tangible evidence that this will have positive benefits for South Canterbury. Another highlight was the Sanford Dong Won factory visit, the joint venture between Sanford, who have their deep sea operations based here in Timaru and a processing factory in our sister city Weihai. It is a success story of collaboration and since the Mayors return from Weihai, he has met with the Vice President of Dong Won Fisheries and senior Sanford management to further discuss this joint venture. Aoraki Polytechnic has also been invited to participate in the Weihai Food Expo next year promoting not just the polytechnic but South Canterbury as well.
Eniwa also welcomed the delegation with open arms with Mayor Yukata Harada initiating a Memorandum of Understanding to share knowledge learnt about natural disasters. Mayor Damon Odey said “it was a brilliant idea as our Sister city Eniwa was faced with the same challenges Timaru was, while not being directly impacted by the earthquakes, Eniwa, like Timaru hosted many refugees and the people of Eniwa offered support in the clean up and rebuild effort. We know we did some things well but there were other things we could have done better after the 2011 earthquakes, so if we can work together and share invaluable information to be better prepared for future disasters then that is a positive for both cities”. The delegation also attended a Chamber of Commerce board meeting, visited several factories and businesses as well as tertiary education institutions. The Mayor said overall the trip to Weihai and Eniwa was worthwhile and much was accomplished in the few days that the delegation had there. He believes that the future is very bright for our Sister City relationships and having the opportunity to open up new lines of communication will lead to future collaborations which will help grow our economic and cultural opportunities here in Timaru. “Through our sister city discussions we have already found there are real opportunities and initiatives that will produce tangible economic benefits for both cities, and also contribute to the social and cultural value of our region.”
BUSINESS DELEGATION TO TEMPE, ARIZONA OCTOBER 2014 Hutt City Council in conjunction with the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce will be leading a delegation to their Sister City Tempe, Arizona in October this year. The delegations will be looking to explore partnerships and business opportunities, with a focus on the science, technology and high value manufacturing sectors. See more details here: Infosheet - PDF (on Sister Cities New Zealand website)
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NEWS & EVENTS SISTER CITIES MAKE WORTHY RELATIONS Mayor Lianne Dalziel has returned from her trip to the United Kingdom convinced that Christchurch should retain its links with its English counterpart. Dalziel was flown to London this month by the World Bank to attend an international forum on disaster risk reduction, and used the trip as an opportunity to visit England’s Christchurch, which is one of our sister cities. She was the first sitting mayor to visit and was struck by how much the sister cities had in common. Dalziel said that while the sister-city relationship did not deliver the economic and cultural benefits of the sister-city relationships Christchurch had with cities in China, Japan and the United States, she believed it was important the connection be retained.
“It’s a longstanding and important relationship,” the mayor said. Under a policy approved by the previous council, the mayor is supposed to visit Christchurch’s sister cities once every three years but Dalziel indicated yesterday that policy could be revisited shortly so that trips would take place only on significant anniversaries, such as the upcoming 40th anniversary of Christchurch’s sister-city relationship with the Gansu province in China. The mayor is due to visit Gansu in September and will use the trip to lobby for direct flights from Gansu and to press Christchurch’s case for being used as the gateway for China’s Antarctic operations. Source : The Press - 16/07/2014, Reporter: Lois Cairns
THE JET PROGRAMME The Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme aims to promote grass roots internationalisation at the local level by inviting young overseas graduates to assist in international exchange and foreign language education in local governments, boards of education and elementary, junior and senior high schools throughout Japan. It seeks to foster ties between Japanese citizens (mainly youth) and JET participants at the person-to-person level. Each year around 100 Kiwis are selected to participate in the JET Programme.
On Friday August 1st, we farewelled the 2014 JETs from Wellington who departed the next day to start their new lives in Japan. If you are interested in being involved in this exciting opportunity, applications for the 2015 Programme will open in mid-October this year. To find out more, please have a look at our website
Once completing their contracts some JET participants find alternative work and stay in Japan, others continue their overseas adventures and a number return home to NZ to share their experiences with the next generation of Kiwi JETs.
http://www.nz.emb-japan.go.jp/culture_education/JET.html and attend an information session at a University near you in September / October - details about these sessions will be posted on the facebook page in the upcoming months www.facebook.com/JETProgrammeNZ/
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NEWS & EVENTS FROM TEMPE TO LOWER HUTT: TEN YEARS LATER Sarah Snyder came to Lower Hutt in 2004 with the Tempe Sister City/Lower Hutt Sister City exchange program, and was able to revisit Lower Hutt ten years later, in 2014. As I prepared to come back to New Zealand with my fiancé this summer, I remembered the coldest winds bending the tallest trees at night in Lower Hutt. I remembered lots of warming hot drinks with my favorite chocolate fish marshmallows. I remembered the sheep and the unique landscape. I remembered my first rugby experience, which I was excited to share with my football-crazy fiancé—just to make sure that he knew what a real sport looked like. I looked forward to sharing New Zealand with him and reliving my high school exchange and global experience. My Sister Cities sister, Heidi Bradshaw, and her partner greeted me at the Wellington airport, along with Smeagol and Gandalf. I slept in the same house that I remembered from ten years ago, although this time the bed was equipped with a wonderful piece of technology—the electric blanket! I ate a banana with peanut butter and Milo sprinkles, the same breakfast concoction that I had invented ten years earlier, for breakfast the next morning. However, dinner was very different from when we were both 17. As adults, we walked up to the bar, looking forward to a Tui, a Tuatara, or a Moa, nibbles, and getting to know each other all over again. Heidi was successfully establishing herself as a talented florist, and her partner and I found out that we had a shared love of spicy food. I learned that many things had changed, while others had stayed the same. Both of Heidi’s siblings had recently gotten married, which was welcome news, as I had traveled through Thailand with one of them. I met more new and old friends for brunches that we drove ourselves to. The independence was a welcome change from the memories before of asking for rides and taking public transportation.
Sarah and Heidi in Tempe (2004)
Heidi also met my fiancé, Shawn, who was doing research at the Liggins Institute at the University of Auckland, and we were all able to celebrate a large milestone in our lives in New Zealand—our engagement atop of One Tree Hill. I have always had a special place in my heart for New Zealand, and it is even more special now. Without the opportunity to come to Lower Hutt as a teenager, maybe none of these amazing things would have ever happened. But pondering what could have happened is useless. The Sister Cities program changed the course of my life. After that first global experience, I positioned my career to be international and I have since completed two Master’s Degrees, and am working on my Ph.D. I am dearly looking forward to seeing Heidi again for our ten-year reunion in Tempe this October.v
LOWER HUTT TO TEMPE STUDENT EXCHANGE 2014 HUTT SISTER CITIES FOUNDATION
Top Row: Jay (AZ), Patrick (NZ), Kate (NZ), Kristina (NZ) Front Row: Emma (AZ), Jasmine (NZ), Nicole (AZ), Jackie (AZ)
Every year there is the opportunity for students attending Lower Hutt High Schools to apply to be part of the student exchange with our Sister City Tempe, Arizona, USA. “I went on this exchange to see America but I gained much more than just sightseeing the east coast. I got to show off my home country and everything that is beautiful about it.” Kristina Hutley “The Hutt/Tempe sister city exchange was definitely a life changing and memorable experience that has positively affected my family and I in many ways.” Jasmine Rivers To read more comments from the four Lower Hutt, NZ students who participated in the exchange this year, CLICK HERE to download the full article (PDF) from the Sister Cities website:
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NEWS & EVENTS IEF - LONGSTANDING CORPORATE MEMBER OF SCNZ PROFILE OF CORPORATE MEMBER INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION FUND - ROBSON LIANG
Robson Liang is the Director of International Education Fund (IEF) Ltd, and a corporate member of Sister Cities New Zealand since 2004. He was born in China and studied in Australia and New Zealand. Twenty years ago he moved to New Zealand from Australia because he strongly believes in the unique opportunities and potential this country has to offer. Due to his background, 18 years ago, he founded IEF Ltd to foster international exchange and co-operation on education, culture, business and investment between New Zealand and China. IEF is committed to fostering co-operation in business, culture and education between New Zealand and China and this is reflected in the following projects.
ORGANIZER OF SIGNING CEREMONY EDUCATIONAL COOPERATION PROJECTS BETWEEN KUNMING AND TARANAKI IEF invited Education Taranaki International (ETI) delegation to visit Kunming on 19-20 May 2006 for the purpose of discussing the possibilities of joint development of educational and cultural projects and teachers & students exchange programs with Kunming institutes. During the signing ceremony, China & NZ institutes signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to signify the official launch of collaboration and exchange.
ORGANIZER OF BUSINESS DELEGATION TO CHINA
New Zealand Investment Project Promotional Symposium organized by Foreign Affairs Office of Zhuhai Municipal People’s Government
BUSINESS DELEGATE OF OFFICE OF ETHNIC AFFAIRS (OEA) CONNECTING THE REGIONS PROGRAMME OEA in partnership with Economic Development Agencies of New Zealand (EDANZ) hosted about ten ethnic businesses from Auckland to meet with key industry players of Nelson region for two days in July 2011 as part of OEA Connecting the Regions programme and Robson was part of the Aucklandbased ethnic business delegation.
Seeing that Connecting the Regions programme was successful with long-term significance on forging a sustainable economic relationship and partnership, IEF organized a business delegation to China in Oct 2011 jointly with OEA, EDANZ as well as ANZ for the economic connections between China and New Zealand. It aims at combining New Zealand opportunities of investments, lifestyle and education environments so as to attract investors to come to NZ to invest and settle. The delegation visited several cities in China including Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Guangzhou, Dalian, etc.
SINO-FOREIGN EDUCATIONAL, INVESTMENT & CULTURAL COLLABORATION AND EXCHANGE
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IEF is active in linking organizations, universities and businesses between different cities in China and New Zealand so as to implement a large number of educational and cultural exchange projects. Through the arrangement of mutual visits, IEF assisted Westlake High School in New Zealand and Zhuhai No. 9 Middle School in China as well as Baradene College of the Sacred Heart in New Zealand and Dongguan Middle School in China to establish the sister school partnership. To enhance the sister school relationship, IEF organize short-term study tour programme for schools in China to visit New Zealand for study and exchange.
NEWS & EVENTS PORIRUA HOSTS NISHIO SCHOOLS STUDENTS VISIT – AUGUST 2014 On Sunday 18 August, on a beautiful sunny Wellington afternoon, I met a group of ten Nishio school students and the accompanying teacher who had arrived in Auckland from Japan that morning to be hosted for a week by Samuel Marsden Collegiate, Whitby, Porirua. They were tired after their long flight and nervous about meeting their host families who were waiting at the school. We duly arrived in Porirua and the students were introduced to their host families and left with them for the evening. A Mayoral welcome was held in the Council Chambers on Monday afternoon followed by a tour of some Council facilities. A programme of activities was arranged during school hours for the rest of the week which included a day in Wellington visiting Weta Caves, riding up the Cable Car, walking through the Botanical gardens and visiting Samuel Marsden Kaori which is the parent school to the Whitby facility. The Pataka Museum Educator took the group on an Historic Tour of Porirua visiting sites of significance including the site of the Nagati Toa Marae, and the various settlements of Te Rauparaha and his people in the area, the whaling station at Titahi Bay and many other sites. The group were fascinated by the history story and it was also a great way to introduce them to the geography of Porirua. The group also attended the morning programme of “Polyfest” which is a programme of cultural performances by local secondary school students. The group mentioned that they had never seen any cultural performances given with such power and enthusiasm and these were very different to Japanese performances. On Friday evening Council hosted a Sayonara party at the Pataka Art + Museum facility and everyone had a wonderful night joining in the games and singing and trying their hand at origami.
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Mayor Nick Leggett presenting gift to Mr Yasuhito Aoyama
The week came to a close on Sunday 24 August when the students had to say goodbye to their host families. There were lots of tears and promises to keep in touch but we finally managed to get them onto the coach and on their way to the airport for their journey home to Japan. The Sister City programme between Nishio and Porirua celebrated its 20th anniversary last year and the student exchange programme has been in operation all this time. The five secondary schools in Porirua have over the years all taken a turn hosting a student group and have found these visits culturally stimulating.
Nishio Students group in front of Japanese garden at Pataka Art + Museum
NEWS & EVENTS NELSON/TASMAN MAYORAL BUSINESS DELEGATION VISITING HONG KONG AND CHINA IN APRIL 2014 A business delegation from Nelson led by Mr. Bill Findlater, Chief Executive of Nelson Regional Economic Development Agency, and Mr. Richard Kempthorne, Mayor of Tasman District Council, visited China and Hong Kong in exploring the business opportunity for fresh high quality A2 pasteurised milk and other dairy products produced by Oakland Farms and Kingsway Farms in Nelson. Oakland Farms and Kingsway Farms are the oldest family controlling the dairy industry in New Zealand.
With the extensive network in China and Hong Kong, IEF and ANZ Bank have arranged the business meetings and visits for the delegation. In Hong Kong, they met with Hong Kong Trade and Development Council (HKTDC) and Dairy Farm in giving overview of the Food & Beverage market in Hong Kong. In Guangzhou, they met with the management of Happy Mart Supermarket and visited their store. It is a great pleasure to introduce well established and historical families and businesses to China and they are excited to be committed to business in China.
BOAO FORUM FOR ASIA OFFERS MINDBLOWING OPPORTUNITIES FOR TAUPO OFFICER For more information about Chloe Walker’s experience at this forum click on the link below. http://asianz.org.nz/our-work/leadership-network/out-and-about/chloe-walker-2014
ORANGE, NEW SOUTH WALES, SISTER CITY VISIT TO TIMARU DISTRICT Admiring Pleasant Point’s heritage Model T is the Orange NSW Sister City Delegation: Nick Redmond, community relations; Mayor John Davis, Deputy Mayor Chris Gryllis, Deputy Mayor Richard Lyon. The delegation recently enjoyed a comprehensive tour of the Timaru District.
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NEWS & EVENTS BIHORO DELEGATION TO CAMBRIDGE Visiting Fielddays, having a true Kiwi encounter (in more ways than one) and watching a Kapa Haka group perform were some of the highlights of a recent visit to Cambridge from sister city Bihoro, Japan. The delegation of 11 spent three action-packed days in the area experiencing local life, attractions and food. The visit occurred during the New Zealand National Agricultural Field days at Mystery Creek and the group, from a strong agricultural and cropping region, attended. The highlight of the visit to Field days was the Bihoro Mayor, Mr Koji Tsuchiya meeting our Prime Minister, John Key. During the visit the group experienced Kiwis first hand – twice! The first time was at the Maungatautari Ecological Reserve during a kiwi health check. They were so thrilled to have this happen that they offered to sponsor a bird which will be named Bihoro Cho in the next few months. The second opportunity to really encounter a Kiwi came as the group was home hosted so they were truly able to experience kiwi family life. Cambridge High School students really stepped up to the plate during a visit to the school where the group met students who had recently returned from a secondary school exchange in Japan. But the highlight had to have been the powerful and moving Kapa Haka performance by students at the formal dinner held at the Don Rowlands Karapiro Room.
This diary of events is only as good as the information we receive. If you would like your activities for 2014 listed here please contact us
Newsletter contributons to: editor@sistercities.org.nz