City plans visits to Japan, Korea and Taiwan in 2025

The City of Burnaby is planning a trip to Japan, Korea, and Taiwan in 2025 to visit three of Burnaby’s sister cities in Asia. Delegates will likely include the mayor, several councillors, and members of Tourism Burnaby, Burnaby Board of Trade, Burnaby Board of Education, SFU, and British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT). The delegation will visit Burnaby’s sister cities, Kushiro in Japan, Hwaseong in South Korea, and Taichung in Taiwan. 

According to a July 23 meeting report of the city’s International Relations and Friendship Cities Committee, the trip will cost between $15,000 and $17,500 per delegate. The report also mentions an added cost of $46,000 for ground transportation, hosting dinners, and tokens of appreciation. The table of costs included in the report mentions premium economy and business-class airfare as part of the cost per delegate. However, the report does not say who would travel business class from the city. Funding for the trip will come from the city’s gaming reserve. 

The Beacon contacted the City of Burnaby’s public affairs office to confirm the names and number of delegates who will be joining the trip, but at the time of writing, it had not received a reply. However, if all three members of the International Relations and Friendship Cities Committee and the mayor join the trip, the city will pay between $60,000 and $70,000 for the delegates’ accommodation and airfare. With the additional $46,000, the cost will be between $106,000 and $116,000. 

During the meeting, committee members, councillors Pietro Calendino, James Wang, and Maita Santiago, as well as Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley, discussed the upcoming visit. Hurley mentioned that going on the trip may be difficult for him in light of his new responsibilities as board chair of Metro Vancouver. 

“The difficulty for me now in all these things is having time to go,” Hurley said. 

The city also received an invitation to the Taipei/ Kaohsiung Smart City Summit and Expo in Taiwan, scheduled for March 18-22, 2025. Santiago asked about the possibility of obtaining some funding for the visit from the Taiwanese hosts.  

“I did notice in the invite to that conference, it mentioned that they would cover accommodations and airfare. I don’t know if that’s something that we wanted to consider,” Santiago said. 

The mayor responded that the offer was to cover the accommodations and airfare for only one delegate, most likely the mayor. 

“All three were combined into one for economic reasons, of course, because once we’re there, it is wise to pay a visit to the other neighbouring countries that have sister cities with us,” Calendino said.

This piece was made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.

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