By DANE LILLINGSTONE
THE exchange program between Warwick and Japanese city Kumiyama has continued with a visit to Warwick by students and the town mayor this week.
The delegation from Kumiyama that included Mayor Shinki, his wife Mrs Shinki and Secretary Mr Okuno visited the Southern Downs for three days. The Kumiyama school students were also here as part of a cultural, economic and student exchange.
Both cites may be connected through the exchange program but Southern Downs Regional Council mayor Peter Blundell said he hoped to extend this relationship to include any future economic opportunities.
“Kumiyama has a significant manufacturing component as well as an agricultural sector that make up its economy. From this perspective, there are some similarities with the Southern Downs region,” he said.
The delegation was here to investigate how businesses worked in the Southern Downs with their itinerary including visits to Grove Juice, Integria, Maydan Feedlot and Denny’s Silo and Engineering.
Denny’s was recently purchased by multinational Japanese company Satake.
“Fortunately one of the Japanese representatives of Satake was in Allora during the visit to Denny’s, so was able to explain the business and their outlook in detail to the Kumiyama delegates,” Cr Blundell said.
“Grove Juice was also another significant highlight for the delegates, and they were very interested in both Grove Juice’s manufacturing process and concepts and plans for the future.
“Mayor Shinki and I are certainly keen to explore the economic opportunities that may arise from the relationship between Kumiyama and the Southern Downs.”
