?The relationship offers an opportunity to take advantage of the free trade agreement recently signed between New Zealand and China and establish links that in future could deliver economic benefits to Hutt City.
By Tim O?Connell
The formalization of a sister city agreement with China?s Taizhou City is a step in the right direction, although there are many more steps to be taken, says Hutt City?s Mayor. The pact was finalised following a signing ceremony in Nanjing on October 31, formalising the relationship which begun when the two cities signed a Friendly City agreement in 2005. Mayor David Ogden returned to work last week expressing optimism towards the third sister city relationship for the Hutt City. ?The relationship offers an opportunity to take advantage of the free trade agreement recently signed between New Zealand and China and establish links that in future could deliver economic benefits to Hutt City. ?There is also the possibility of community exchanges in such areas as education and sport which will enhance cultural understanding and goodwill between our cities.? With a population of five million people, Taizhou City is situated in Jiangsu Province, near the mouth of the Yangtze River and a four-hour drive from Shanghai. Major industries include automotive, appliance, electronic and pharmaceutical production, which Mayor Ogden was able to see during his visit. While education, sport and cultural links are valuable to the sister city relationship, the Mayor was adamant that more work would be required regarding the economic ties between Hutt City and Taizhou. Mayor Ogden says that while many delegations visit there are no plans to host representatives from Taizhou in the near future. He also hinted that the size of future local delegations would have to be reviewed. ? ?The delegation was a bit too large, I thought, and we could have done away with a few, in hindsight. ?But we had gone through a fair bit of debate about who would go beforehand. ?In the end, you either don?t do enough or your spending is called into question.? Mayor Ogden pointed out that the planning for the trip had undergone a thorough approval process, which he had a minimal input on. ?Largely, I kept out of the approval process, although the costs were never going to increase.? The Hutt City delegation?s costs were reduced as the hosts paid for accommodation and meals. An Air New Zealand $3000 travel prize also alleviated the cost to Hutt City ratepayers. Taizhou City joins Minoh City in Japan and Tempe in the United States as Hutt City?s sister cities.
