Busy Schedule For Shanghai Delegation

Dunedin (Monday, 8 April 2013) – The signing of an updated sister city agreement will be a key event for the Dunedin delegation that leaves for Shanghai on Wednesday.

Most of 13-strong Dunedin Shanghai Sister City Delegation will be in Shanghai from 12 to 19 April. The delegation comprises representatives from the Dunedin City Council, the Otago Chamber of Commerce, the Dunedin Shanghai Association, the Otago Museum, the Otago Polytechnic and Tourism Dunedin. Representatives from five Dunedin high schools are also travelling with the delegation.

The DCC representatives are Mayor of Dunedin Dave Cull, Deputy Mayor Cr Chris Staynes, Chief Executive Paul Orders and Shanghai Business Development Manager Ying Qin.

Major delegation events will include the signing of an updated Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two cities, the signing of an MoU between the Otago Chamber and its Shanghai counterpart, and meetings with the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission and the Shanghai Municipal Tourism Bureau.

Some members will travel to the nearby city of Qingdao to meet executives from the Haier Group, which owns the controlling interest in Fisher & Paykel. Other events include meetings at the Shanghai Museum and at the Yu Garden, which is holding a Dunedin Chinese Garden photographic exhibition with images from the Garden and of the city. There will also be a tour of the Jinshan District, which is the area surrounding Shanghai.

Mr Cull says the trip is a great opportunity to build on the existing sister city relationship. There will be a big focus on developing further co-operation in the areas of business, education and tourism.

“The civic relationship between the two cities is an important overarching relationship. Under this umbrella relationship, specific benefits to Dunedin will come through the links developed and enhanced by groups such as the Otago Chamber of Commerce, individual businesses, tertiary institutions and Tourism Dunedin.”

The aim of the sister city MoU was to highlight areas of importance to both cities. It would be a high-level document and action plans would be established to sit beneath it. This would tie in with the Dunedin Economic Development Strategy, adopted last year, which includes a specific focus on Shanghai.

The sister city agreement was first signed in 1994.

ENDS

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