Lingle leaving on 10-day Asia trip
She'll visit Indonesia, Japan and Okinawa to promote fruit sales, tourism and security
Gov. Linda Lingle leaves tomorrow for a 10-day trip to Indonesia, Japan and Okinawa.
Lingle will head a 24-person delegation to Jakarta, Indonesia, to sign a partnership agreement between the Hawaii National Guard and the Indonesian military. The partnership will cover areas of mutual security cooperation and disaster preparedness.
"It is an important opportunity for us to establish a relationship with their military and our Guard," Lingle said yesterday in an interview.
"It isn't in a military sense, but in a civil preparedness and civil defense arrangement," Lingle said, adding that Indonesia and Hawaii share the same legacy of volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and tsunamis.
Traveling with Lingle will be state Adjutant General Robert Lee, Maj. Gen. Vern Miyagi, assistant to the commander, U.S. Pacific Command; and Charles McCreery, director of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
Also on the trip will be Republican state Reps. Barbara Marumoto (Kalani Valley-Diamond Head) and Gene Ward (Kalama Valley-Hawaii Kai).
Ward is a former Peace Corps director for East Timor and speaks Bahasa Indonesia.
Lingle said the trip -- her third journey to Indonesia, but her first as governor -- will include meeting with U.S. forces participating in a disaster management exercise. She also plans to meet with Indonesian women's leaders.
In Japan, Lingle's group will be joined by three more state legislators, Reps. Cliff Tsuji (D, Hilo-Glenwood) and Ryan Yamane (D, Waipahu-Mililani) and Sen. Clarence Nishihara (D, Waipahu-Pearl City).
The trip to Japan will include talking up tourism from Japan to Hawaii, Lingle said, noting that there has been a decline in the number of visitors from Japan.
"Obviously, we want more people from Japan coming to Hawaii and we will also update travel writers in Tokyo," Lingle said.
Sandy Kunimoto, state agriculture director, will also be on the trip to discuss Japan's refusal to allow imports of Rainbow papaya and potted anthuriums.
"We have been working with the Japanese government for quite some time on this and we will be offering to give them more information and make it clear why it is a positive thing for them," Lingle said.
Concerns about genetically modified crops and pests in the soil have precluded the importation of the plants and fruits, Lingle said.
Finally, while in Japan, Lingle hopes to go to the port of Yokohama to meet with the crew of the Polynesian canoe, Hokule'a, she said.