The City of Bunbury has voted to send council representatives to its sister and friendship cities in the new year.
The council, at its meeting on Tuesday, December 12, passed the motion to send City of Bunbury Mayor Gary Brennan, the International Relations Chair or a City councillor, and an International Relations Senior Officer to Setagaya, Japan and Jiaxing, China in May 2018.
The council said the four-to-five-day trip was designed to acknowledge the 25th anniversary of the sister city relationship between Bunbury and Setagaya.
Representatives from City of Setagaya visited Bunbury in October for the anniversary celebrations.
The trip is expected to cost around $10,000, with funds provided by the 2017/18 financial budget.
Mr Brennan said the City of Bunbury was able to send up to 15 people on the trip.
He said the occasion would honour Bunbury’s connection to the Asian cities.
“With Setagaya we’ve had a sister city relationship with them for 25 years, and they have paid the courtesy to us to come here regularly,” he said.
“This is an opportunity for a delegation to be sent to Setagaya.
“I said that I wanted to focus on Bunbury for the first term [as Mayor] and I am now in a position where we can afford to go across there and pass on our good will to them.”
Mr Brennan said there had not been a trip to Jiaxing in over five years and the visit would further strengthen the relationship between both places.
“There is a 17-year relationship with them and we have a lot of delegations come here from Jiaxing, mainly with business focus,” he said.
“Having the friendship and sister city relationships really opens up doors.”
Mr Brennan said Bunbury-Geographe businesses had regularly attended trade shows and conducted operations in China.
He said the visits strengthened cultural and social ties between the cities, including 25 years of student and business exchanges.
“You can’t underestimate the value of having a strong relationship, whether it is state or national relationships with these places,” he said.
“It opens up a lot of doors and connections.”
Bunbury has held a sister city relationship with Setagaya since November 1992 and a friendship city agreement with Jiaxing since 2000.
