Australia-China Chamber of Commerce and Industry
of New South Wales

 

 


 

Related documents:

Position paper on Sister State and Sister City Relations Between Australia and China

Chamber letter to Sister City News

Information about cities and provinces in China.

 


SPEECHES FROM THE FORUM ON

MAKING SISTER CITY RELATIONS WORK FOR THE ECONOMIC
BENEFIT OF BOTH PARTIES

12 March 2002

Sponsoring organisations:

Local Government and Shires Associations NSW (LGSA)

Australian Sister Cities Association (ASCA)

Australia China Chamber of Commerce and Industry of New South Wales (ACCCI)

 


Speech by Councillor Kevin Wales
Mayor Wagga Wagga City

Thank you for your invitation to speak this morning in relation to the Sister City relationship the city of Wagga Wagga, NSW has with the city of Kunming situated in the South West of China.

Wagga Wagga City Council currently has three Sister Cities.  Leavenworth, USA, which was developed in 1962, Nordlingen, Germany and Kunming in China developed in 1988.  It is very fair of me to say that the Kunming, China Sister City is by far the most progressive.  The Leavenworth, USA relationship is really only used for visits by our Miss Wagga Wagga and Community Princess every two years, whilst the Nordlingen, Germany relationship does entertain several visits by Council and community groups, whereas our Miss Wagga Wagga and Community Princess are hosted in Nordligen every alternate year to Leavenworth.

The Kunming, China relationship has developed considerably over the past 2 years.  We have had some 15 visits from Chinese groups, 10 of these have been from either Kunming or Yunnan Province.  These Chinese delegations have covered a wide coverage over the Agriculture, Public Health, Tourism, Education, University and general goodwill areas.

The Sister City talks first began in 1984, when a local Horticulturist began talks with the Chinese Embassy and eventually arranged for a visit to Kunming.  It had been established that Kunming with a population of some 4.5 million people and situated in the Yunnan Province, which has a population of some 42 million people, had many opportunities for our two cities to share our expertise in the agricultural and cultural areas.  In 1988 the agreement was signed and to commemorate this a Camellia Garden was constructed by the Kunming Government in our Botanic gardens.  Our Council then had a Children’s playground installed by Council employees in Kunming.

Since 1988 there have been consistent visits by members of our Council and in particular the Mayors together with several ‘trade delegations’ to Kunming.  I took over as Mayor in September 1999 and first took the opportunity to visit Kunming in April 2000 at the time of the inaugural International Tourism Festival.  I must say that my eyes were widely opened when I saw first hand what was available in Kunming.  The opening of the festival was something to remember, they really put on a wonderful display, which to my mind was even better than the opening of the Sydney Olympic Games. 

There has been considerable talk in Government circles that the Chinese have destroyed their history and heritage.  This is not so in Kunming, here we have a city that is rich in history and heritage and they are doing something about restoring those important things of the past.  The Exposition area in Kunming is really something to see.  It is situated on some 200 plus hectares, supplied by the Government and has exhibition halls from most countries in the world.  The only Australian exhibit is a small slab hut, with a hills hoist and a Southern Cross windmill and some artwork of native birds from this country.  This hut was built by personnel from our Council to ensure that an Australian commitment was available at the Expo Area.  The inside of the hut has information on Wagga Wagga and Australia and has a sign “Wagga Wagga – Australia.  I must say that this exhibit falls into some insignificance in relation to other country exhibits.  In fact on my last visit to Kunming in December 2001, I found that some disrepair had occurred and we are now endeavouring to have this rectified.

This Expo area has some 9 million visitors each year and is no doubt a great fundraiser for the Kunming Government.  The area also has a wonderful entertainment area with a stage, which can have up to 500 entertainers performing at one time.  At the rear of the stage there is a lake area with a man made cliff face with light fittings at the rear of the lake.  The entertainment is really special and made more spectacular by the water features and lights from the cliff face.  Something really worth looking at.

Other features include a Nationalities Village, where is on land developed by the government and made available for use by the 26 different nationalities in the Yunnan Province.  Currently there are 13 of the nationalities who have exhibits and demonstrations on the site.  This is really a great place to visit and I am told that they have up to 50,000 visitors on a daily basis during the busy tourism period.  Nearby is the Stone Forest, which is really an old historic ocean bed.  The history and heritage, which surrounds this tourist attraction, is something special as well.

Well some things that have been positive in this Sister City relationship have been Sister School relationships between two of our High Schools and High Schools in Kunming.  A Sister University relationship between Charles Sturt university and Yunnan University and as well we have now opened the Tourism doors between the Travel Agencies in Kunming with the Travel Agencies in Wagga Wagga. 

In December 2001, a local businessman from Wagga Wagga, who owned two Chinese restaurants in Wagga Wagga has now set up an “Aussie Café” in Kunming.  His restaurant is likened to a McDonald’s and is doing quite well in Kunming.  We are looking forward to more interactions in this area of business development.

In December 2001, we had a delegation from Kunming from representatives of the Kunming Community Consultative Conferencing Committee in relation to Public and Environmental Health issues.  When I was first in Kunming in 2000, I made a promise to the Mayor that I would send over some water and waste management experts to maybe assist his city in relation to water and waste management issues.  The December 2001 delegation have taken back some of the best practice measures we are using in Wagga Wagga, which are causing great interest in the government.  I am taking a 9-person delegation including two persons with water and waste management expertise to Kunming on 12 April 2002.  This will be my third visit in 20 months and I am again looking forward to the visit.  Really we are treated like royalty, which is not expected.  When it comes down to fact, we at Wagga Wagga cannot host these people in the same fashion as we are hosted in Kunming.

I am extremely pleased with the progress of our Sister City relationship with Kunming and look forward to further developments into the future.  I have commenced a section of our Regional Library to include books and demonstrations to identify the values and beauty of Kunming and I am confident that we will have community and trade delegations take up the challenge to visit our Sister City in Kunming, China over the next months.  Kunming is known as the city of “eternal spring” and this was evident when I was there last December in winter time, cool mornings and nights with 23 degrees during the day. 

Ladies and Gentlemen.  Sister Cities are what you make them.  Get in and make it happen and you will really achieve some exciting opportunities for your communities.  Perhaps the financial rewards are harder to achieve, but in Wagga Wagga we are excited about a Farm stay just out of our area, which is now attracting large numbers of Chinese students, who come for 4-6 weeks, learn some English and try out the Australian farm lifestyle.  This arrangement has 250 students booked for 2002.  Why did it happen, some came and tried it out and the word of mouth advertising did the rest.  A perfect example of just what can be done, if you make it happen. 

Thank you and best of luck with your personal Chinese Sister City relations.