The State of Hawai‘i Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT), in partnership with the Filipino Chamber of Commerce of Hawai‘i (FCCH), will be presenting the Hawai‘i-Philippines Sister Province Symposium on Wednesday, March 13, 2024, at the Hawai‘i Convention Center. The goal of the symposium is to strengthen and maximize opportunities provided by the sister relationships between Hawai‘i and the Philippines. The symposium will include speakers from government, community, and educational, cultural and business sectors from Hawai‘i and the Philippines.
International Relations
Lt. Governor Shan Tsutsui greets Vice-Governor Sun Jing Miao of Zhejiang Provincial People’s Government, who is in charge of the Zhoushan New Area, a growing tourism and resort area. Vice-Governor Sun extended an invitation to Lt. Governor Tsutsui to attend the Zhoushan Tourism and Resort Conference in October, 2016, to speak about Hawaii’s resort and ...
Read More Visit by Vice-Governor of Zhejiang Province
Courtesy of University of Hawaii News The Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism (DBEDT) congratulates the University of Hawaiʻi, the University of the Ryukyus and Meio University on the signing of a memorandum of a understanding that proposes to form an international network—the International Consortium for Okinawan Studies—for studying and teaching about Ryukyu and ...
Read More International Okinawan studies agreement signed
On the occasion of the start of the Chinese New Year, Governor David Ige expressed his congratulatory wishes to the people of Guangdong Province. 2015 marks the 30th anniversary of the signing of sister-state relationship between Hawaii and Guangdong Province. Committees from both Hawaii and Guangdong have been working on plans for interactive programs and ...
Read More Governor Ige’s New Year Greetings to Sister-State Guangdong Province
RSVP by Feb 26
For six years in a row, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been the US' largest trading partner in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Hawaii and the UAE already maintain a strong relationship, and in the last 14 years, state exports to the UAE have increased by 97%. Join us for a discussion with His Excellency Abdulla Alsaboosi on the importance of UAE-US bilateral relations in areas such as education and exchange, security, regional cooperation, business and trade.
Governor David Ige welcomed an advance team of senior government officials from Bali, Indonesia in the Governor’s Ceremonial Room. The 9 member delegation, led by Dr. Ketut Wija, Deputy Head of Bali’s Economic Development & Social Welfare, traveled to Hawaii to discuss the implementation phase of the sister state agreement which was signed in April ...
Read More Governor Ige Meets Bali Contingent
On Saturday, September 20, 2014, Governor Neil Abercrombie met with Guangdong Province Governor Zhu Xiaodan who traveled to Hawaii to discuss plans to celebrate the 30th anniversary of our sister-state relationship. Over 75% of people living in Hawaii can trace their ancestral roots back to Guangdong Province. Governors Abercrombie and Zhu, along with Ambassador Liu ...
Read More Hawaii and Guangdong Reconnect
The State of Hawaii and Okinawa Prefecture will celebrate the 30th Anniversary of its historic Sister-State relationship in 2015. To begin planning for the auspicious occasion, the Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism (DBEDT) staff including Deputy Director Mary Alice Evans and Administrator Dennis Ling welcomed Vice-Governor Yoshihisa Kawakami and his delegation and officials ...
Read More DBEDT Welcomes Okinawa Vice-Governor Yoshihisa Kawakami to Hawaii
The State of Hawaii will return to the Autumn Tokyo International Gift Show for the third consecutive year. Based on solid export sales data reported by last year’s 40 participating Hawaii companies, the State will again organize a Hawaii Pavilion at the largest international trade show in Japan featuring exhibits promoting gifts, consumer goods and ...
Read More State of Hawaii Actively Recruiting for Tokyo International Gift Show!
Over 80 local and international government officials, business representatives and the Indonesian community in Hawaii joined Governor Neil Abercrombie during the signing of the Hawaii-Bali Sister-State relationship in the Executive Chambers on April 14, 2014. “What an auspicious occasion that brings us all together for the signing of Hawaii’s sister in the Pacific, the Province ...
Read More Hawaii and Bali Officially Become Sisters