Shuichi Kobunai told guests attending a luncheon meeting at the Halifax Club this city is seen by many as an example of how to reinvent a local economy after traditional industries decline.

"It may not be known here, but the Halifax model is getting very familiar in (the northern Japanese island) Hokkaido," Kobunai said through interpreter Yoshikatsu Kikuchi.

The two men are part of a 14-member delegation from the port city of Kushiro studying Halifax's infrastructure and development strategies as well as ground-breaking work by the Greater Halifax Partnership, a public/private development agency.

Kushiro is a city of 280,000 on the east coast of the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, similar to Hokodate, Halifax's sister city. Partnership president, Michael MacDonald said Haligonians don't usually think of their economy as a model, but they should. Not totally altruistic

"I think we've done something here," he said. "We've been very honest with (the delegation) in that we have to keep working to keep it alive." Halifax's motives are not completely altruistic, MacDonald said. The city's business community could use contacts in Kushiro to expand trade throughout Japan.

"Nova Scotia needs a doorway into japan and Hokkaido offers us that," he said. "When we go there, these people will greet us, and they will make the contacts and they will go with us.

"With Kikuchi translating, Kobunai presented a brief histroy of Kushiro and the struggles their economy has faced since its high-water mark in th emid-1980s.

Like Halifax, Kushiro's economy is in flux, slowly moving away from the traditional mainstay of fishing and coal mining. Kushiro's business community is trying to diversify the economy before the mines close.

"We can't avoid the decay of our local economy if we follow the same old ways," Kobunai said.

He told guests Kushiro looked at development strategies from around the world, but was intrigued by what they saw in Halifax during a brief visit in 1996.

That was followed by a return visit by MacDonald in 1998, who brought more details on how the partnership functioned.

The delegation leaves Halifax today. They have visited port facilities, businesses and even toured the pedway system that links the city's downtown core.

Kikuchi said the delegation was impressed with the system and may push for a pedway in Kushiro, which has a climate similar to Halifax.