September 2022

Newsletter
From the Board
Message from new President Mayor Grant Smith
Kia ora and welcome. As your new President I would
like to introduce our incoming Board for 2022/23:
Vice President Ray Wallace, Directors John Christie,
Beth Knowles and Taylor Marston, Emeritus President
Hiromi Morris, Advisors Luke Qin and Elisha Hsiao, andAdministrator Sarah Ma.
It is great to finally see international boarders reopening andface to face activity happening and re-connections made. I
have personally seen this in International Education, Tradediscussions and people-to-people connections. This canonly make our communities more vibrant.
Most will have caught up with the news that our Conference
has been moved to late 2023 and will still be hosted in thebeautiful Marlborough region. In the meantime as we havesome significant diplomatic anniversaries to acknowledge

and celebrate. With this in mind, theBoard have organised a one day Forumat Parliament’s Grand Hall on Thursday 10th
November.
Planning is also underway for several regional half-day
Forums where members, Councils and international
partners can share thoughts and experiences. These
start with Dunedin on Friday 30th September, as well as
Auckland and Palmerston North planned for early 2023.
With an international spring in everyone’s step, let’s makethe most of our reconnecting in coming months. I lookforward to catching up with as many of you as possible innear future.
Ngā mihi nui,
Mayor Grant Smith, GCNZ President

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Forum 2022
10am, Thursday 10 November 2022
at Grand Hall, Parliament Building
Theme: Celebrating New Zealand’s
Diplomatic Relations - Global
Connections and Diversity throughCitizen Diplomacy
Please join us to celebrate New Zealand's
diplomatic relations with the USA (80 years),
Japan (70 years), South Korea (60 years) andChina (50 years).
The forum can bring people together to share
our stories, to discuss how we can reconnect withthe world and work together to maintain thepeople based global connections establishedover the years, and to develop further, bothinternationally and locally.

Regional Global Cities
Forum to be held in
DunedinDunedin is looking forward to hosting guests from
Otago and Southland for the regional Global Cities
Forum this month.
About 50 people have been invited to the event set to beheld at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery on 30 September.
Speakers will include Dunedin Mayor Aaron Hawkins,
President of Sister Cities NZ Grant Smith andrepresentatives from business, exporting, education
providers and other councils.
Ongoing international relationships that are benefitting
the city and region’s businesses will be highlighted at theforum.
The city is looking forward to showcasing the value sistercity partnerships have.
The forum, which was meant to be held last year, wasdelayed when New Zealand was shifted into Alert Level 2.

GCNZ Newsletter / September 2022

Christchurch International Strategy
By Beth Knowles, International Director, Ara Institute of Canterbury & GCNZ Director
international outreach, as well as to collaborate whereinterests align. It is also reflects the Council’s desire toact as a convener and conduit, rather than pursuinginternational relationships and objectives in isolation.

Ōtautahi Christchurch has developed a new strategy
which will guide how it engages internationally.

The stakeholder group recently identified Australia, theWest Coast of the United States, the Guangdong Provinceof China and the Republic of Korea as the places on which
to focus collective efforts to build international ties. This
includes Sister Cities Adelaide, Seattle, Songpa-gu andfriendly city Shenzhen.

The International Relations Policy Framework is a strategy
jointly owned by all internationally active city institutions
for how Christchurch will engage with the world, for the
benefit of city residents, as part of a post-COVID recovery
pathway.

Christchurch will still maintain the relationships that it
has with all of its seven Sister Cities. Whilst underpinned
by people-to-people connections, the future of eachrelationship will be unique, as determined by potential
cross-sector benefits and collaboration opportunities.

Stakeholders include organisations representing the city’sbusiness, trade, tourism and education sectors, as wellas the Sister Cities community given the benefit of theseconnections to the city.

Expected opportunities include the establishment of
direct air links; knowledge transfer in areas of common
interest; collaboration in sustainability and climatechange adaptation and resilience; and increased businessconnections.

The Framework reflects the willingness shared by all
stakeholders to be more deliberate and targeted in their

Click here to read the framework document

Absolutely Positively Deserving
By Ray Wallace, GCNZ Vice President
Hiromi was presented her Award by Mayor Andy Fosterand his councillors. Vice President of GCNZ Ray Wallace
was in attendance with past Board member Marcus
Boshier and members of the Xiamen society along withher husband Wayne Morris.
Mayor Andy Foster told the audience that Hiromi had
shown such dedication to the relationships with her
support, advice, and practical help which the Council andCity was eternally grateful.
Marcus Boshier & Ray Wallace (GCNZ), Mayor Andy Foster,
Hiromi, Wayne Morris, Miko Morris, Jennifer Zhou (WCC), Roxie Orr(Wellington Sakai Association), Tomotaka Ishizu (Embassy of Japan)

Emeritus President Hiromi Morris has been awarded
an Absolutely Positively Wellingtonian Award from
Wellington City Council for her years of dedication andsupport of the Council’s 20 Sister City relationships.
A special ceremony was held at Te Papa recently where

Hiromi said she was humbled by the Award and accepted
it also on behalf of all the people she has worked with overmany years in the sister city relationships. Hiromi gave
special thanks to her number one supporter, husband
Wayne Morris who without his support she could not do
the work she has done and enjoyed over many years.
On 5 August, Hiromi was also awarded the Japanese Foreign
Minister’s Commendation. Click here to read the full press
release from the Embassy of Japan in New Zealand.

Thank you message from Hiromi Morris
I would like to advise you that I have formally stepped
down from the role of President at the latest AGM after 14
years of service (10 years as President).

in 2016 and I am passionate about youth engagement for our future leaders.

Palmerston North Mayor and GCNZ Board Director Grant
Smith was elected as the new President and I would like to
ask for your continued support.

The Board also appointed me as coordinator
for organising the Forum to be held on Thursday 10 November at Grand Hall in Parliament. I
look forward to welcoming you there.

The Board appointed me to the position of Emeritus President as an advisor’s role and I will continue supporting theorganisation in the background. I would also like to continue to support the Youth Subcommittee since I launched it

I would like to thank you most sincerely for your kind support given to me during my tenure. I respect and admire
your time and commitment to furthering the important
people-to-people connections in Aotearoa and abroad.

GCNZ Newsletter / September 2022

Mangapapa
Schoolstudents

Gisborne School to School Exchange with USA
By Ann Osler, Gisborne District Sister Cities Committee
During 2021/2022, a link has been formed between two
teachers, Sarah McKenzie from George Washington
Elementary School Palm Desert and Megan McVey from
Mangapapa School Gisborne, and their pupils.
Sixty-six children participated in the project and greatly
benefited from the school-to-school pupil-to-pupil
connections. This will resume again when the Palm
Desert school commences the new school year.
Sarah McKenzie’s students learned about Gisborne's
location, looked at photos of Gisborne, and read about
options available here. They spent some time comparing
and contrasting the two cities and countries. They also
talked about what Sister Cities means as they had notheard the term before.
Sarah has shared with Megan the final slides her students
made about themselves as well as a quick video with themtalking about Palm Desert. The Palm Desert school year
is now concluding, and Sarah thanked Gisborne Sister
Cities for the connection and said her students enjoyedlearning about Gisborne.
Megan McVey’s pupils really enjoyed creating their Digital
All About Me slides. They looked at the Sister Cities site

and as with the students
in Palm Desert had notbeen aware of Sister Cities
either. They have been
making pamphlets about
Gisborne to try and enticethose in Palm Desert tocome to visit when they
have their “OE in10 yearstime”.
Megan has also linked
Mangapapa’s
Year5
Learning Site with Sarahin order for her to findtheir blogs. These havejust been started thisyear, but when Sarah getsher new class, she will be
encouraged to make contact again, they will be just a“click away”.
Both classes thanked Sister Cities for the opportunity tomake contact and through their school project become
more aware of the others’ city and culture.

Upcoming JNZBC Annual Joint Conference in Beppu
By Ian Kennedy, NZ Chair, JNZBCArrangements are well advanced for the 48th JNZBCAnnual Joint Conference to be held in Beppu City,
Japan, on 20-22 November this year.
Beppu is Rotorua's sister city.
The Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI)
shares our strong wish to get back to in-person meetings.
Both sides are committed to the success of the conference
after an enforced interruption caused by COVID-19.
The theme for the conference is "New Zealand andJapan: Transforming Challenges into Strengths throughPartnership".
Given the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between
New Zealand and Japan this year, it's an opportunity toreflect on the development of the trade and economic
relationship and to take forward the suite of issues
identified by Prime Minister Ardern on her recent visit- including working together on renewable energy, foodand beverage, technology, education exchanges andtourism.
Regular updates will be posted at www.jnzbc.com
Beppu City

GCNZ Newsletter / September 2022

Nelson holding China Week
By Barbara Markland, President Nelson Branch NZCFS
Wednesday 28 September 7:00p.m.
Opening with Meng Foon, Race Relations Commissioner;
invited dignitaries, Tangata Whenua, NZCFS, Nelson
Chinese Society, members of the Public. There will be apresentation by Meng Foon on the evolving cultural mix
in New Zealand with particular focus on the integrationof Chinese communities (including his own journey).
• Confronting racism in local communities• Difficulties Chinese have integrating into New Zealandsociety

After several COVID-affected attempts Nelson City
Council is again holding China Week at the Trafalgar
Centre in Nelson, September 28 – October 1.
The event is supported by the Nelson Branch of NZCFS
which is taking the opportunity to exhibit some of thegifts received from sister cities in China, Huangshi and
Yangjiang. Also exhibited will be paintings by Nelson
school children which have been digitalised and sentto Hubei Province to be exhibited in celebration of NZ/
Hubei week.

• Historical connections between Chinese settlers andMāori• Synergies between Māori
practices and traditions.

andChineseculturalThursday 29 September 1 – 4:30pm
Business seminar.
Friday 30 September 7:00pm
Performance.
Saturday 1 October 11:00am – 2 pm
Chinese National Day. Community Day.

CLAIR Sydney visit to Palmerston North City Council
Republished with permission from CLAIR Sydney
On 2 June, a CLAIR Sydney office staff who is on asecondment from Mihara City in Hiroshima Prefecture
visited Palmerston North City Council in New Zealandand met with the Mayor, Grant Smith.
Palmerston North is the most populated area of theManawatu region in the southern part of New Zealand's
North Island. The city is located on the fertile plains along
the Manawatu River and has a long-standing, prosperous
dairy industry. In recent years, businesses have been
relocating to the city due to the city’s position as animportant transportation hub in the region. Palmerston
North is also a university town, and its population
continues to grow due to the influx of people from bothwithin New Zealand and internationally.

During this visit to Palmerston North, the staff dispatchedfrom Mihara City met with Mayor Grant Smith to discuss
future exchange between the two cities. Mayor Smith,
who has just been appointed President of Global Cities
New Zealand, spoke passionately about the importanceof the exchange with Mihara City. Following that, the
CLAIR Sydney staff presented the Mayor with a letterfrom the Mihara City Mayor, Mr Yoshihiro Okada.

The relationship between Mihara City and Palmerston
North began in 2003 when Mihara City invited athletes
from Palmerston North to participate in the Triathlon
Sagishima held in Mihara City. After reciprocal visits
made by the mayors of both cities, a sister city affiliation
was concluded in March 2019.

Japanese Ambassador’sSouthern Trip
On the 1st of July, His Worship the Mayor of Invercargill, Sir
Tim Shadbolt and Councillor Darren Ludlow met with theJapanese Ambassador Mr Koichi Ito and Mr Yohei Fujitani,
Head of Economic Section. There were discussions on
education and trade.

GCNZ Newsletter / September 2022

Introducing the new GCNZ Board Members
President: Mayor Grant Smith(Palmerston North)
Grant Smith is the 29th Mayor of Palmerston
North City and is proactive in supporting Sister
Cities and global relationships. Grant has had an
extensive business background in advertising andmarketing, as well as managing multiple international
sporting and cultural events, before becoming Mayor. He has
also served on the boards of Te Manawa Museum Trust, The
Manawatu Rugby Union, The New Zealand Rugby Museum,Central Squash Association, and New Zealand Squash. He haschampioned the international programme Palmerston North
city runs, which supports key city sectors of Food Research,
International Education, Defence, and Trade.

Director: John Christie (Dunedin)
John is a senior management executive withprevious director, CEO, and project manager
experience at several high-profile New Zealandorganisations. In his role as Director of EnterpriseDunedin, he is also a member of Dunedin
City Council’s executive leadership team. His
governance experience includes roles with Otago Polytechnic,
Knox and Salmond Colleges, Warbirds Over Wanaka, Diversity
Works NZ, and New Zealand Chambers of Commerce. John isthe former Chief Executive of the Otago Chamber of Commerce.
He has been instrumental in the development of Dunedin’s
relationship internationally including its sister cities of Shanghai,
Otaru, and Edinburgh.

Director: Taylor Marston (Auckland)
Taylor has an academic background in sistercities, having completed his master’s thesis
on sister city relationships shared between
Japan and Aotearoa New Zealand. He currently
resides in Tāmaki Makaurau and is pursuing a
PhD in the field of community development, once
again focusing on sister city relationships. Taylor has a strong
passion for the “Think Global, Act Local” doctrine and is eager
to promote the actions of sister cities and their importance incontemporary society, especially to today’s youth. Taylor alsoteaches classes in the Japanese, and Social Sciences and Public
Policy departments at Auckland University of Technology.

Administrator: Sarah Ma(Palmerston North)Sarah is from Vietnam and came to New
Zealand in 2017 to study at IPU New Zealand.
In 2020, she graduated with a Bachelor ofContemporary International Studies, majoring inInternational Relations. In 2018 She joined the Palmy
Global Ambassador Programme run by the Palmerston North
City Council and became a Youth Ambassador. Her experiences
as both a Youth Ambassador and a Vice Chair of the Manawatu
Young Chamber have given her many opportunities to learn
about International Relations, youth engagement as well as theworld around her.

Youth Advisor: Elisha Hsiao (Porirua)
Elisha is a Product Manager at Volpara Health,innovating software to assist with early cancer
detection; a member of the Asia NZ Foundation’s
Leadership Network and a previous recipient of
the French Embassy’s Hexagone Scholarship.
Originally from Taiwan, Elisha has spent half herlife in New Zealand and lived in France for six months during
her university exchange. Elisha is a firm believer that fosteringfriendships around the world from a grassroot level is a great way
to learn about other cultures. Sister Cities relationships is a way
to achieve this. Elisha organised and led the GCNZ’s inaugural
Youth Tour to 5 cities in China in 2018.

Vice President: Ray Wallace(Lower Hutt)
Ray believes strongly in the Sister Cities
philosophy of extending friendship with othercountries and celebrating cultural diversity. He
is in his second term as Vice-president of GCNZ.
Originally from Scotland, Ray came to New Zealand asa three-year-old, but remains very proud of his Scottish heritage.
Ray has served as a City Councillor and Mayor of Lower Huttfrom October 2010-2019. It was his strong sense of service to thecommunity and interest in local democracy that spurred him to
stand for public office. As Mayor for nine years, he strengthened
relationships with Lower Hutt’s sister cities of Tempe in the
United States, Minoh in Japan, and Taizhou in China . He is
also the Chairman of the Hutt Minoh Friendship Trust, and has
worked closely with his city’s Multicultural Council. Ray has also
been a Justice of the Peace for 26 years.

Director: Beth Knowles (Christchurch)
Beth
is
a
passionate
advocateforinternationalisation and the contributionof vocational education to workforce skills
development and regional economic development. This passion has ensured Beth has
been actively involved in supporting sister city
relationships in Hawke’s Bay, Wellington, and Canterbury.
As International Director at Ara Institute of Canterbury,
Beth has over 30 years of experience in the international
education industry. Beth’s career spans the fields of businessdevelopment, export education marketing and recruitment,internationalisation of tertiary institutions, staff and student
exchange, technical and vocational education and training
and international education consultancy. Previous roles
include tertiary institutions and the Wellington Regional
Chamber of Commerce.

Emeritus President: Hiromi Morris(Wellington)
Hiromi was born and raised in Japan. She
visited New Zealand for the first time when she
was a young student. It was an enlightening
experience that subsequently led to her getting
involved in supporting global connections throughpeople-to-people exchanges since 1994 when Wellington/
Sakai relationship was formed. Hiromi became a GCNZ Board
member in 2008 and has been President since 2012. She believes
strongly in collaboration and working collectively with a wider
range of organisations, embassies, central/local governments,
businesses, communities, and schools. She is also enthusiastic
to work with young people – our future leaders. Hiromi has been
appointed as Emeritus President at the AGM held in May 2022.

Advisor: Luke Qin JP(Wellington/Lower Hutt)
Originally from Sichuan, China, Luke firstarrived in Christchurch as a teenager. He isan experienced international trade banker,
helping established exporters and importers
with working capital funding and risk management.
Luke currently serves as an Elected Board Member of the New
Zealand Institute of International Affairs, Executive Committee
Member of the New Zealand China Council, National Executiveof the New Zealand Chinese Association, Official Cultural
Advisor for the Hurricanes Super Rugby team, and Chair ofHutt City Council Community Funding Panel. He is also an
Elected Board Director of Transparency International New
Zealand, chairing the Affiliations Committee and serving on
the Audit & Risk Committee. He is a member of the Institute of
Directors, Asia New Zealand Foundation Leadership Network,
Rotary Club of Wellington, and has been serving as a Justice of
the Peace since 2012.

PO Box 965, Palmerston North 4440, New Zealand | Sarah Ma - National Administrator 0224272036 | admin@globalcities.org.nz | globalcities.org.nz