Summit highlights cooperation and exchanges

Updated: 2005-10-10 11:37

The program for the 2005 Asia Pacific Cities Summit, Chongqing, China, 11-14 October, features a keynote session on 'Hand-in-Hand: Cooperation and Exchanges between Asia Pacific Cities'.

The session will include the following keynote speakers:

Mr Tadatoshi Akiba, Mayor, City of Hiroshima, Japan

For 60 years the city of Hiroshima has been warning the world about nuclear weapons, but five years ago, with the election of Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba, Hiroshima finally became a player on the international stage. Having graduated from both Tokyo University and MIT in Boston, and having lived in the U.S. for nearly 20 years, Mayor Akiba is a rarity among Japanese politicians: bilingual, and thoroughly cosmopolitan. Equally rare are his commitments to peace, the abolition of nuclear weapons, environmental protection, and open, transparent, democratic government.

Mayor Akiba's greatest achievements lie in the realms of international business and peace. Using his wide network of non-Japanese contacts, he has met with government and business leaders around the world encouraging economic and cultural interaction. Mayor Akiba pursues economic development without abandoning his environmental protection principles, always seeking to ensure that incoming operations are as clean as possible.

Hiroshima is among the most advanced local governments in Japan, earning the city favourable attention overseas. At the 2001 Asia Pacific Cities Summit in Seattle, U.S., which focused on technology, the Mayor of the host city commented: 'Hiroshima is the city to watch when it comes to the electronic City Hall.'

Ms Beverly O'Neill, Mayor, City of Long Beach, USA

Mayor Beverly O'Neill is Long Beach's only three-term, city-wide elected Mayor. Initially elected in 1994, she was re-elected in 1998 with almost 80 percent of the vote, and was re-elected to a third term as a write-in candidate, the nation's only large city Mayor to accomplish such a historic feat. Long Beach is California's fifth largest city and the 32nd largest in the U.S. Mayor O'Neill has been a major force in changing the Long Beach economy into a diversified mix of international trade, tourism, emerging technologies, and expanding retail.

Mayor O'Neill has won national and international acclaim for her ability to bring the varied constituencies of the city together to build an economically and culturally vibrant city. She has fought to bring the issues affecting the people of Long Beach to decision-makers in Washington, D.C. and the State Capital. Some of the major issues she will be addressing during her third-term include transportation, neighbourhoods, public safety, clean water and beaches, and building pride in what has been identified as one of the nation's most diverse major cities.

As a member of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Mayor O'Neill chaired the Standing Committee on Jobs, Education and Workforce for four years. She led efforts to focus attention on the issue of skill gaps and co-hosted the Mayors' Skills Summits in New Orleans, Long Beach, Boston and Kansas City. In June 2005, Mayor O'Neill was elected President of the organisation.

Numerous organisations have honoured Mayor O'Neill for her devotion to the city, education and youth. In 2004, she was voted Municipal Leader of the Year by Primedia's American City and County magazine.

Other Summit keynote speakers include:

Mr Joachim Erwin, Lord Mayor of Dusseldorf

Lord Mayor Erwin was born in Stadtroda/Thuringia. He moved to Dusseldorf in 1960 where he studied law, sport and Spanish. He passed the First State Law Examination in 1973, followed by practical training in law and a teaching post at the Ruhr University of Bochum, before passing the Second State Law Examination in 1976. In the same year, he set up a law practice in Dusseldorf.

In 1967, Lord Mayor Erwin joined the Young Christian Democrats (Junge Union) and the Christian Democratic Party (CDU). He was a member of the Dusseldorf City Council from 1975 to 1988, when he entered the North Rhine-Westphalian Regional Parliament (until 1990). In 1994, he was re-elected to the City Council. He has held numerous local government posts: Chairman of the Personnel and Organisation Committee (1994-1999), Chairman of the CDU Political Faction in the City Hall (1997-1998), and Mayor (1998-1999).

On 1 October 1999, he was elected as Lord Mayor of Dusseldorf. He is the Head of Municipal Administration, Chairman of the City Council and a member of the Main and Finance Committee, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Messe Dusseldorf GmbH and the Administrative Board of the Stadtsparkasse bank, as well as Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Flughafen Dusseldorf GmbH.

Mr William Stafford, President, Trade Development Alliance of Greater Seattle, USA

Mr Stafford is currently the President of the Trade Development Alliance of Greater Seattle, an affiliate of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce. The Trade Alliance is a partnership of business, government, education and labour promoting the region's international business interests. He chairs the Seattle Sister City Coordinating Committee and in the past administered the Seattle Sister City Program.

Prior to assuming the presidency of the Trade Development Alliance of Greater Seattle in 1991, Mr Stafford served a succession of Seattle Mayors over a period of nearly two decades. His varied posts included Deputy Mayor and Director of the Office of Intergovernmental Relations, coordinating relations with county, state and federal governments.

Under the trade development program, Mr Stafford leads, for the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, yearly delegations of Seattle regional leaders averaging 75 from business, government, non-profits, schools and colleges. The delegations make week-long reconnaissance trips to successful foreign regions. The delegations have visited Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Stuttgart, Osaka/Kobe, Hong Kong, Bristol, London, and Singapore.

When not travelling the globe to boost Seattle's competitiveness, Mr Stafford has serves on numerous local boards, including the Children's Museum, Public Defender Association, and the Seattle Zoo. While on the Zoo's board, Mr Stafford moved instinctively to forge international ties. After putting together a 'Sister City' agreement with Chongqing, China, in the '80s, he negotiated with China for a series of animal exchanges.

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