Monthly Archives: June 2005

My China and Thailand trip.

June 7 – Honolulu to Shanghai
June 12 – Shanghai to Beijing
June 14 – Beijing to Tianjin by car
June 16 – Tianjin to Hong Kong
June 18 – Visited Macau
June 19 – Hong Kong to Bangkok
June 28 – Bangkok to Honolulu

I attended the Governor’s delegation to China. A couple of my friends in business also attended. The mission had five tracks: government, business, technology, education, and culture. Hawaii goverment officials met with Chinese government officials to strengthen relations between China and Hawaii, and to discuss issues such as tourism, trade, technology, and education. The University of Hawaii and Chinese universities signed agreements to encourage education and research. The Hawaii Technology Development Corporation and the Chineses Technology parks signed agreements to encourage Chinese tech companies to come to Hawaii and Hawaii tech companies to go to China. There were business match-making meetings set up for Hawaii companies to meet Chinese companies.

I went with the Governor’s delegation to Shanghai and Beijing. In Beijing, the State of Hawaii set up an office.

As the delegation headed to the Guangdong province, two House colleagues of mine and a friend veered in another direction to meet with government officials in Tianjin where Hawaii also has a sister state relationship. We visited their tech park and had meetings with their public administrators, tourism officials, and a supreme court justice.

We went on to Hong Kong where we met a U.S. official of the U.S. Consul General in Hong Kong. Another friend of mine met us in Hong Kong. In our spare time, we visited the island of Macau. One House colleague and his wife went to Japan to meet with the Governor of Niigata prefecture. In the meantime I went with my other colleague in the House and my two friends to meet up with a small delegation of business leaders from Hawaii in Thailand. We then flew to Chiangmai where there is interest in a Hawaii – Chiangmai sister state relationship. We met with the Mayor of Chiangmai, the President of Chiangmai University, and the Prince of Thailand. We discussed the possibility of trade and education between Chiangmai and Hawaii. I returned to Bangkok and met with some of the local business leaders there. I returned to Hawaii on June 28.