Sister Cities New Zealand (SCNZ) and CLAIR Sydney held a meeting to discuss ways to further strengthen the ties between both organisations.
In March, Mr Okamoto, CLAIR Chairperson, visited Wellington to talk with Ms Hiromi Morris, Chairperson of SCNZ. They discussed ways to get more JET Alumni Association (JETAA) members involved in sister city activities in Japan and New Zealand, the creation of sister city programmes targeted at youth that are easy to participate in and international exchanges through sports such as rugby. We also exchanged views on further economic exchange, mainly the import and export of specialty products between sister cities. New Zealand has many attractive products, such as dairy products and wine. In the future, we would like to see not only exchanges through specialty goods but also the exchange of people, culture and knowledge.
Also, we had the great opportunity to exchange views with Mr Malcolm Alexander, CEO of the New Zealand Local Government Association (LGNZ).
Although Japanese local governments currently conduct exchanges with New Zealand, we suggested an extension of these exchanges to include rugby as Japan will host the 2019 Rugby World Cup. He showed a deep interest in our suggestion.
In addition, with the conclusion of the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership), we discussed the possibility of further promotion of New Zealand wine in Japan as it is yet to have a stronghold in the Japanese market. On the flipside, we also brought up the possibility of New Zealand importing Japanese agricultural produce.
On 14 May, CLAIR Sydney received a Certificate of Appreciation from SCNZ.
Details will be announced in the next newsletter.