The path to creating a sister cities program on Maui began on 1964 with a county resolution to have Hachijo Island, Tokyo, Japan as our first sister city. The next year, Hirara City, Miyako Island, Okinawa, and so forth and so on until today, Maui County has 23 esteemed Sister Cities.

The idea for a separate non-profit organization to support programs and cultural exchanges with our Sister Cites began in 2005 when Maui County through a wonderful Sister Cities Festival. With the launch of the festival, many independent cultural organizations stepped up to the plate to help host visiting official and youth delegations from around the world. 

With the success of the festival, conversations continued and at last in 2007 the Maui County Sister Cities Foundation received its status as a non-profit organization and with it a purpose. A volunteer board of directors has met to develop guidelines for the new foundation, a website to report news, membership requirements and a clear path for the future.

The most exciting part is the chance to participate in cultural exchanges and meet youth delegations.

Your membership helps us to:

• Assess, plan, implement programs that fulfill the County of Maui’s opportunities and commitments involving sister cities in other countries.
• Recommend guidelines to consider when evaluating a city’s request for the County of Maui to formalize a sister city relationship.
• Enhance, create, and initiate value added sister city relationships/programs for mutual benefits, and to create a desire for others to become a Maui County Sister City.
• Enhance public awareness of Maui County’s Sister Cities Program.
• Provide opportunities for county officials and residents to experience and explore other cultures through long-term community partnerships.
• Stimulate environments through which communities will creatively learn, work, and solve problems together through reciprocal cultural, educational, municipal, business, professional and technical exchanges and projects.
• Assist in hosting visiting Sister City delegations.
• Respond to initiatives and communications directed to the County of Maui from a variety of governmental and private agencies and organizations abroad.
• Represent the Foundation when traveling to our Sister Cities.

As the Maui County Sister Cities Foundation grows, we will provide detailed information about us and our organization. In the meantime, we have set-up this page to share information from the Maui County Official Website.