Report backs $30k city visit spend

The Invercargill City Council will consider putting $30,000 of unbudgeted expenditure towards hosting a delegation from Japanese sister city Kumagaya in January.

The City of Kumagaya has written to council chief executive Clare Hadley advising that a 13-member delegation will travel to Invercargill. They will arrive on January 25 and depart on January 29.

A report prepared by council’s governance and legal manager Michael Morris on the matter will be put to councillors tomorrow.

The report recommends that while the cost was not included in the annual plan, the council should put $30,000 of unbudgeted expenditure towards hosting the group from Kumagaya.

‘‘It is some time since [Invercargill] has hosted a sister city visit. Visits occurred for both the 20th and 25th anniversary, involving activities such as visiting local tourist attractions, playing a rugby match, and hosting meals and receptions.’’

It will be the first visit to Invercargill by Tetsuya Kobayashi as mayor of Kumagaya. He will be accompanied by three others from his office, along with the chairperson of the Kumagaya Council and seven of its councillors, and the president of the Kumagaya International Friendship Association.

Council staff would work with the incoming council to finalise a programme for the visit and would also liaise with the Kumagaya Friendship Association.

The City of Kumagaya has also requested that the Invercargill council send a delegation to the Japanese city in July 2023 to mark the 30th anniversary of the sister city agreement.

Morris, in his report, says the sister city relationship between Invercargill and Kumagaya began in the early 1990s.

‘‘It was considered essential that a sister city relationship be formed with Kumagaya as a prerequisite for trading relationships to be established.’’

Following inter-city visits from the mayors and councillors, a sister city agreement was signed in 1993 and resigned 10 years later in 2003.

Secondary school exchanges have developed from the sister city agreement, although were halted as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

JOHN HAWKINS/STUFF Then Kumagaya mayor Kiyoshi Tomioka and Invercargill mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt resign the sister city relationship agreement during 20th anniversary of the relationship celebrations in Invercargill in 2018.