Miccio gets nod to head China mission

Nelson mayor Aldo Miccio will be "opening doors" for a delegation of business people heading to Nelson's sister city in China next month.

Six business delegates from Nelson, along with Mr Miccio and Nelson regional economic development agency (EDA) chief executive Bill Findlater, will be heading to Huangshi, Hubei Province, China, in March.

At a community services meeting yesterday, Nelson city councillors approved Mr Miccio's $5000 trip to lead the delegation. The week-and-a-half-long trip, departing March 17, will also include visits to Beijing, Guangzhou and Shunde.

Mr Findlater said the Nelson delegates were drawn from several sectors, including wine, horticulture, general business and education.

The purpose of the trip was to build on earlier contacts made with government officials and business people from Huangshi, and examine existing and new contacts in other cities.

Delegates would be looking at trade and investment links with these contacts, who covered a range of areas, Mr Findlater said.

The group would also explore opportunities identified after the Asean business delegation to Nelson last July, which was hosted by EDA in conjunction with the Ministry of Ethnic Affairs.

"To deal with China, it's not just about going up there and trying to cut a deal. It's about building relationships so we're building on existing relationships, and looking to extend those to others. Out of that I think we will come out with significant opportunities for Nelson and Nelson businesses."

Mr Findlater said an example of this was the fact he hosted Chinese businessmen yesterday, contacts he met when he visited China 18 months ago. They visited the Alliance meatworks, and met with people from the wine industry.

Having the mayor lead the visit could "open many doors not available generally" and Mr Miccio's attendance would be a significant factor in the success of the trip, he said.

"Mayors are recognised in China as being very significant. There's a lot of respect there, sometimes even more so than for other government officials. So to have our mayor with delegations like this is pretty important.

"We're also fortunate our mayor has worked in China, so he knows what we're dealing with."

Mr Miccio said it would be a worthwhile trip, which he hoped would open doors for Nelson businesses who were trying to trade their wares in Asia.

The annual council budget for councillors' travel and conference attendance is $40,000, with the council having preapproved $32,000 for the 2011-12 year.