Waitakere acknowledged at sister city conference

Waitakere has a couple of new additions to its trophy cabinet with awards in two categories at the recent sister city conference in Te Anau.

Waitakere gained second place in the youth/education category with its programme for youth with disabilities from Kakogawa – Waitakere’s Japanese sister city .

Another second placing was in the business/commercial category with its trade mission to Ningbo, its sister city in China, last year.

Waitakere was the only council to win two awards.

In the youth category, Waitakere City told how it had responded in 1995 to an initiative of the then mayor of Kakogawa, Mr Seiichi Kinoshita, to provide better support for students with disabilities.

Mr Kinoshita felt that such students were finding it difficult to make the transition between the fully supported junior high school environment, to the less-supported environment in senior high school and the tertiary and workplace environments.

He launched initiatives to bridge this gap in Kakogawa and Waitakere decided to host a visit for students with disabilities as a means to boost their self-confidence and desire for independence.

Waitakere has hosted a week long visit for the selected students, every year since.

The programme includes sailing, horse riding, learning New Zealand art forms, visiting the ranges, fishing and other activities.

Mr Kinoshita who stepped down as Kakogawa’s mayor in 2002 would often time his own diplomatic visits to New Zealand to coincide with the students’ visit.

His work on building relationships with Japan and New Zealand was recognised last year when he was made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

The second award was for the way Waitakere took advantage of the invitation to participate in the 2006 Zhejiang Trade Symposium in Ningbo.

It is well known that China approaches relationships by building friendship through cultural and educational exchanges for a number of years, before opening up discussion on economic issues.

Having worked with Ningbo for a number of years on building friendships, the city was formally offered a free space at the symposium. This was a gift of considerable value and placed Waitakere’s businesses at the heart of the world’s biggest emerging market alongside countries from around the world.

The trade mission was led by Mayor Bob Harvey – which impressed the hosts – and included representatives of business, the marine industry, education and film.

Waitakere opened the opportunity to showcase several New Zealand films – River Queen and The World’s Fastest Indian – with River Queen winning China’s prestigious Golden Goblet for best music.

The city also co-organised the 2006 New Zealand Film Festival that toured Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing with six feature films and six short films, to considerable media attention.

The good relationships already established between Waitakere and Ningbo opened many doors for delegation members that would otherwise have remained closed – and established the beginning of an economic relationship that theoretically has no limits.

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