The Conferral of the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star upon Sir Maarten Wevers

The Government of Japan has announced today, 29th April 2020, the recipients of the 2020 Spring Imperial Decorations. Among those rewarded is Sir Maarten Wevers, former Ambassador of New Zealand to Japan. Sir Wevers is to be bestowed the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star, in recognition of his outstanding contributions towards the promotion, development, and strengthening of Japan and New Zealand's bilateral relationship.

Sir Maarten Wevers, with his fluent Japanese, served as the Ambassador of New Zealand to Japan from 1994 to 1997. During his term of office, in addition to strengthening Japan-New Zealand relations on the political front by planning and executing Prime Ministers’ and Ministerial Visits, he also enhanced economic, investment, and trade linkages in collaboration with Japanese business representatives. Beyond political and economic affairs, Sir Wevers was also actively involved in expanding cross-cultural community activity at a grassroots level, making contributions to the establishment and enhancement of the sister city relationships between Japan and New Zealand. From 1994 and 1997, nine new sister city agreements were signed, including that of Sakai City and Wellington.

Sir Maarten Wevers was knighted for his services for the State as Chief Executive, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet from 2004 to 2012.

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