Governor Meets with Participants of the Tokyo Global Partners Seminar

On Wednesday, February 7, Governor Koike met with city officials and others represented at the Tokyo Global Partners Seminar at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

The seminar was held as part of the metropolitan government’s initiative to promote international cooperation and exchange with the goals of delivering a successful Tokyo 2020 Games and resolving problems common to megapolises. The three-day seminar took place from Wednesday, February 7, through Friday, February 9. A total of 14 overseas cities attended the seminar: Amsterdam, Bangkok, Berlin, Brussels, Hong Kong, Moscow, New South Wales, Queensland, Rotterdam, Seoul, Shanghai, Taipei, Toronto, and Ulaanbaatar. By sharing information on their experiences and priority challenges, they discussed how cities can cooperate.

The governor welcomed the delegates in English, saying: “The Tokyo 2020 Games will be a festival of sport. At the same time, however, they are an opportunity to create a ‘new Tokyo.’ The Games will transform Tokyo in a range of areas, including the environment, urban development, industry, tourism, and culture ... we also look forward to promoting Tokyo’s superb infrastructure technologies to the world.” “Tokyo’s population is expected to start to decline ... , making Tokyo an aging society ... , and we aim to utilize cutting-edge technology, and advance urban development that incorporates environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors ... and realize sustainable growth.” “In this age of increasing globalism, collaboration and cooperation between cities are essential. Tokyo also hopes to learn about what other cities around the world are excelling at, and actively incorporate policies, including those from your cities, that will be effective in solving Tokyo’s urban challenges. Through this seminar,  I truly look forward to international cooperation between cities deepening, ...[and] cities producing even better urban policies.”

Following these remarks, the governor and the participating cities exchanged views on urban development and other topics.