Mayor to visit Korea and Israel

Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker will visit Korea and Israel for eight days.

The Mayor will leave on Thursday 3 May, returning to Christchurch on Friday 11 May. While in Korea he will travel to Christchurch's sister city Songpa-Gu. He is also speaking at a business breakfast in Seoul hosted by the Kiwi Chamber of Commerce. A highlight is a visit to the Korean Antarctic Programme (KOPRI).

He leaves Korea on Saturday 5 May, travelling to Israel for the International Mayors’ Conference attended by 73 Mayors from around the world. The invitation to Mr Parker follows a visit to Christchurch in April last year by Israel's Speaker of the Knesset, Reuven Rivlin.

The cost of Mr Parker’s travel is being met by the conference organisers. The Mayoress will accompany the Mayor and Mr Parker is paying for the cost of her travel.

Mr Parker returns to Korea on 10 May where he is a guest speaker at the 2012 Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Conference in Seoul.

Mr Parker will use the visit as an opportunity to promote the rebuild of Christchurch’s central city to potential investors. When the new Christchurch Central Development Unit was formed last month, he said he was looking forward to being part of the team involved in promoting the city and attracting overseas investment.