Christchurch mayor to tour South Korea, Israel

Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker will visit Korea and Israel. Photo / Greg Bowker

Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker is to visit South Korea and Israel for eight days.

He will leave this Thursday, returning to Christchurch on Friday May 11.

While in South Korea, Mr Parker will travel to Christchurch's sister city Songpa-Gu and also speak at a business breakfast in Seoul hosted by the Kiwi Chamber of Commerce.

A highlight is a visit to the Korean Antarctic Programme.

After Korea, he will travel to Israel for the International Mayors' Conference, to be 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.

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

Christchurch City Council said the cost of Mr Parker's travel was being met by the conference organisers. His wife will accompany him and Mr Parker is paying for the cost of her travel.

A council spokeswoman said the mayor would 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, Mr Parker said he was looking forward to being part of the team involved in promoting the city and attracting overseas investment.