| In June, Mayor of Kaohsiung, Chen Chu and delegates from Kaohsiung City Government, visited Honolulu, Hawaii. The trip was a great opportunity for Kaohsiung to strengthen ties with other international cities. Mayor Chen met with the state Governor and Honolulu's Mayor. She also met with Deputy Mayor Roy K. Amemiya, who visited Kaohsiung back in 2013 while attending the Asia Pacific Cities Summit (APCS). On June 12th, Mayor Chen and Kaohsiung's delegation visited the Hawaiian Statehouse, where they were met by Governor David Ige. Mayor Chen described how Kaohsiung has been changing its image and transforming itself into an Asia-Pacific tourist destination. Hawaii is nicknamed the Rainbow State and is a world famous tourist destination. Mayor Chen felt they could learn a lot from Hawaii's experience in tourism and the delegation had been warmly received. Mayor Chen also introduced Kaohsiung's top industries to the governor. She spoke about Taiwan being the largest yacht producer in Asia, with Kaohsiung's yacht industry accounting for 80% of Taiwan's total production. She described the fastener industry in Ghangshan, with Kaohsiung accounting for one third of the world's screw manufacturing. She also highlighted Kaohsiung's vibrant deep-sea fishing industry. Kaohsiung's initiatives and highly developed industries impressed the Hawaiian leaders. After her visit to the Hawaiian Statehouse, Mayor Chen visited the Honolulu City Government. Honolulu was Kaohsiung's first sister city and have maintained this relationship for over half a century. There are frequent public and governmental exchanges between them. In 2012, the cities signed a Memorandum of Understanding and since then their relationship has drawn even closer. Mayor Chen emphasized the fact that both Honolulu and Kaohsiung are cities that have large harbors and are located beside sea. The Port of Kaohsiung is Taiwan's biggest harbor; while Honolulu is an important gateway into the United States, as well as a critical center for trade across the Pacific Ocean. In order to work with harbor cities around the world, facilitate new perspectives on harbor city development and cultivate cooperation between international harbor cities, Kaohsiung will host the Global Harbor City Forum in 2016. Mayor Chen took the opportunity to extend a warm invitation to the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Honolulu's City Government to attend the Forum. Deputy Mayor Amemiya appreciated Mayor Chen's invitation and also expressed his intentions to continue cooperation between the two cities. Mayor Chen also visited the Polynesian Cultural Center owned by Brigham Young University of Hawaii, where she observed how Hawaii partners academia with industry. Mayor Chen hopes to collaborate with Hawaii on integrating this practical model in order to create more opportunities for Taiwanese students studying abroad. Mayor Chen emphasized that she will continue to strive to build and develop the Taiwanese Association in Hawaii and hopes talented, well-educated Taiwanese can return to Taiwan and work in Kaohsiung in order to create a better future for kaohsiung. | 
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