Posted on: Tuesday, June 7, 2005

Hawai'i trade mission off to China, S. Korea

Advertiser Staff

Gov. Linda Lingle said yesterday she hopes a trade and cultural mission to China and South Korea will lay the groundwork for stronger economic ties between Hawai'i and Asia.

The governor leaves tomorrow with a delegation of more than 100 state officials and business leaders. The purpose of the mission, according to the governor's staff, is to promote tourism, education and business development. The delegation will return June 19.

"The work that we're going to do there I think is going to be significant for us in the long term," Lingle said.

The delegation is scheduled to make stops in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Zhongshan in China and Seoul and Jeju in South Korea. Lingle will open the Hawai'i Business and Tourism office in Beijing, and join University of Hawai'i officials as they mark a new collaboration with Zhongshan University. The governor is also expected to meet with several government officials and corporate executives, and plans to greet Hawai'i troops in South Korea.

Representatives from companies such as Matson, Castle & Cooke and Alexander & Baldwin are going on the trip, along with people from the East-West Center and the Hawai'i International Film Festival.

Kai Bovaird, an executive director at Cause & F(X) Pictures, said he would like to expand his digital special-effects company into Asia within two years. He said the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism will help him and his business partner, Paul Aumer-Ryan, make contacts.

"It's going to give us a chance to see things on the ground and how business functions in China," Bovaird said.

Sharon Weiner, group vice president here for DFS, which has offices in Shanghai and Beijing, said DFS and other businesses that are established in the region, will help state officials make connections. "It's not so much our benefit. It's what we can help the state accomplish," she said. "It's kind of a team effort."