KEY POINTS:
New Zealand is at "saturation point" with its sister-city relationships and needs to be selective in forging any more new links.
That's the view of Sister Cities NZ executive officer Brian Cross following Porirua City Council's decision to reject a bid from Afghanistan's poverty-stricken Bamiyan for sister-city status.
Porirua City debated the invitation from Bamiyan Governor Habiba Sarabi to form a relationship, but decided to reject it on the grounds that it would be a drain on Porirua's resources.
While famous for the giant Buddha statues which the Taleban blew up in March 2001, Bamiyan is a poor city of 62,000 people with little to offer Porirua.
Mr Cross said the relationship needed to be two-way, with both cities benefiting from the link.
"I'm not surprised at their decision. It makes sense," he said.
Staff recommended the Porirua council turn down the invitation, saying it would offer no obvious benefit other than "one of a philanthropic nature".
While it could be argued that it would be a "noble aspiration" to assist people of such a poor and downtrodden region, "such a notion falls outside the parameters of the usual sister-city guidelines", the staff report said.
The council also voted down the idea of pursuing a lower-level "friendly city" relationship.
The sister-city concept started in the United States after World War II.
Most relationships are formed as a result of direct council-to-council contact and a simple one-page agreement between the mayors at the time seals the deal between two communities.
"The good ones have a really strong community base. People in the community really want to make them work."
Mr Cross said his role was as a part-time co-ordinator, and as point of contact for inquiries and advice.
New Zealand towns and cities have formed sister-city links with many cities around the globe in recent years, with a clear emphasis on China and Japan.
New Zealand has 47 sister-city links with China, 30 with Japan, 26 with Australia, 21 with the United States, and nine with the United Kingdom.
Mr Cross said that by far the most active relationships were with Asia.
At least half the relationships established with Australia and the US had lapsed as interest in pursuing the link had waned.
Both China and Japan were proactive in seeking out sister cities in New Zealand.
Mr Cross said New Zealand could see the advantages in forming links - educational and cultural exchanges with important trading partners.
New Zealand cities were now not actively pursuing new relationships, but were focusing on building the links they had already established.
"I guess we've reached saturation point."
While Japan primarily focused on the advantages of educational and cultural exchange with a relatively safe Western society, China was more interested in long-term economic benefits.
"New Zealand picks up on that. If China looks at it in terms of what's in it for China then we should, equally, be looking at it in terms of what's in it for New Zealand.
"Although education and cultural things are great, to really measure the benefits, naturally enough, politicians and their constituents look at what's in it financially."
New Zealand cities were sought after and needed to be careful who they signed up with, Mr Cross said.
"A community that had a link in a place like Afghanistan, Uganda, or Ghana, would be doing it for pretty altruistic motives and we just don't operate that way in New Zealand. It's about building bridges towards making New Zealand a better place."
- NZPA
