On 7 September, the Secretariat made a visit to Yokohama to meet with CityNet Yokohama Project Office (CYO) and the City of Yokohama. The delegation of the Secretariat included Deputy Director of Programs Jaime Paulo Mora and Programme Officer Bohyun Kim.
For the meeting, the Secretariat delegates were invited to Yokohama International Organization Center which hosted the CYO and also the office for Development Cooperation Department of City of Yokohama. As the CYO was recently relocated, Director of Project Administration of CYO Akiko Yamakoshi introduced its new location and facilities prior to the meeting.
The meeting was attended by the Head of CYO Rumi Kurita and Executive Director of Development Cooperation Department of City of Yokohama Norio Tomioka, along with eight staff and officials from the CYO and City of Yokohama. At the beginning, Yokohama explained their follow-up actions regarding promotion efforts that were discussed during Ms. Akiko’s visit to Seoul in July. The two parties also shared plans and agendas on the upcoming 43rd Executive Committee (ExCom) Meeting. And beyond the ExCom preparation, Yokohama’s contribution and participation to the 8th Asia-Pacific Urban Forum (APUF-8) was consulted. Moreover, the City of Yokohama requested the Secretariat’s cooperation on organizing CityNet-related programs and inviting participants for the 12th Asia Smart City Conference (ASCC), which is to be held in Yokohama this November. And the Secretariat agreed to provide necessary support for the CityNet events of the ASCC.
After the meeting, the Secretariat delegates visited Yokohama City Hall to meet with Director General of International Affairs Bureau Toru Hashimoto. Mr. Hashimoto warmly welcomed the Secretariat delegation and expressed his willingness to visit Suwon to participate in the ExCom Meeting and APUF as representative of Yokohama. He also conveyed his desire for closer and continued partnership between the CityNet and City of Yokohama.
Based on this year’s exchange of visits between the Secretariat and Yokohama, both parties agreed to have regular meetings and visits.
This article has been written by Bohyun Kim, who can be reached at programs3@citynet-ap.org.
Bohyun Kim has specialized in diplomacy through people-to-people exchanges. Before joining CityNet, he organised various diplomatic events from youth MUN conferences to peace forums at the ROK Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Asia Exchange Association, and Jeju Forum Secretariat. At CityNet, he is responsible for the overall coordination for key legislative meetings. Mr Kim received his Master’s in Global Politics from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a BA in Journalism & Communications and Political Science & Int’l Relations from Kyung Hee Univ.
