[§201‑17]  Office of international
affairs; established.  (a)  There is established, within the department of
business, economic development, and tourism, an office of international
affairs.



(b)  The office shall:



(1)  Develop policies that promote and strengthen
relations with other countries in the areas of international business, economy,
culture, and the arts;



(2)  Develop policies that promote transportation
between, and tourism with, other countries;



(3)  Develop and promote international telecommunications
and high technology exchanges;



(4)  Encourage the development of international
sister-city programs, pairing Hawaii cities with cities around the globe for
artistic, cultural, economic, educational, and faith-based exchanges;



(5)  Develop and promote Hawaii as the economic,
trade, commerce, transportation, banking, and tourism hub of the Pacific;



(6)  Develop an international affairs and peace
education curriculum that includes studies of international affairs and peace
initiatives and takes a proactive, strategic approach to the development of
policies that promote the prevention of national and international conflict,
nonviolent intervention, mediation, peaceful resolution of conflict, and
structured mediation of conflict; and



(7)  Provide for exchanges of individuals between
Hawaii and other nations to develop international and peace-based initiatives.



(c)  Notwithstanding any other law to the
contrary, if any of the responsibilities or duties of the office of
international affairs under this section overlap with the responsibilities or
duties of another agency or authority under this chapter, the office of
international affairs shall have exclusive jurisdiction and authority over
those responsibilities and duties. [L 2006, c 172, §2]