Chch/Songpa-gu 10th Anniversary Dinner

Friday 18 November 2005

Ambassador Shin, Deputy Mayor of Songpa, Chang Soo Ghil, delegation members, guests from the Korean National Museum of Contemporary Art, city officials, performance group members from JeonJu, citizens of Songpa , welcome to you all.

Welcome also to all those who have been part of this, the youngest, and in some ways liveliest, of all our sister city ties since it was set up 10 years ago.

It is a vibrant connection as I was shown when I had the pleasure of visiting Songpa in 2003. It is a pleasure to return your hospitality here in Christchurch.

Our worlds have changed hugely since Mayor Vicki Buck and Mayor Kim Sung Soon signed the sister city agreement in 1995.

Some of these changes have been good, others not so good. One constant that has emerged has been that the need for closer people to people, city to city, culture to culture ties has only become stronger.

Rather than relics of an earlier time sister city ties have become a powerful weapon in helping forge new pathways for peace, prosperity and helping shape what history is already calling the Pacific Century.

Features like the Sister City garden at Halswell Quarry and the cultural strength they provide between us are key building blocks in this process of growth.

As a vice president of the global Mayors for Peace movement, I am acutely aware how vital active peace building like the sister city programme is, for all of us.

At varying times different aspects of the sister city programme come to the fore. Sometimes it is culture, others commerce, or education, or sport.

Rather obviously having so recently seen the sheer marvel that is the first modern Korean art show ever to be held here it is the "Alchemy of Daily Life" that shines brightest this week. It is an amazing show that like any great cultural event gives us insights and awareness of other ways of life that no briefing paper could hope to provide. It is knowledge we need.

Our Korean community now numbers about 5000 people, which adds up to a significant presence. Our educational, sporting and commercial ties continue to grow in importance and frequency.

Finally, some brief thanks to some of the many dedicated people and groups who have made this sister city connection such a rich one. My apologies for the inevitable missing out of some in such a large cast.

Thanks to Charlie Lee, Clyde Sugden and Mary Yoon for her leadership.

Thanks to the Korean ambassadors in New Zealand and to ours in Korea.

Thanks to the New Zealand Korea Veterans Association, the Christchurch Korea Society and the Asia Foundation.

We also owe a debt of gratitude to our international relations staff here and to our committee members over the years.

The Christchurch Art Gallery and the Korean National Museum of Contemporary Art for the "Alchemy of Life" project.

And finally to our young people of schools like Aranui, Merrin and Chisnallwood and their equivalents in Songpa.

Thank you all for helping make this a vibrant and strong sister city connection.