Participating local and regional governments: 34 governments from 6 countries
（China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Korea, Japan）
<34 governments>
■China(5):Anhui Province,Henan Province,Shaanxi Province,Yangzhou City,Dunhuang City
■India(1):Varanasi City
■Indonesia(1):Province of Yogyakarta Special Region
■Philippines(1):Aorora Province
■Korea(8):Gyonggi-do Province,Chungchengnam-do Province,Gongju City,Seosan City,Buyeo County,Jeollanam-do Province,Gyeongsangbuk-do Province,Gyeoungju City
■Japan(18):Aomori Pref,Yamagata Pref,Fukushima Pref,Niigata Pref,Toyama Pref,Fukui Pref,Gifu Pref,Shizuoka Pref,Mie Pref,Shimane Pref,Kochi Pref,Kumamoto Pref,Nara Pref,Niigata City,Nara City,Tenri City,Kashihara City,Asuka Village
Venue: Nara Prefecture, Japan
Main programs:
1.
Plenary Session (October 7th)
:
Adoption of Nara Charter
:
Discussion/Adoption of Joint Statement on the 1st Congress
2. Joint Press Conference (October 7th)
Joint Statement on the 1st Congress
3. Theme-Specific Report: report from local and regional governments and discussion
Theme 1: Conservation of cultural heritage and tourism promotion
●Participating local and regional governments :
27 local and regional governments (Underlined governments gave presentations).
■China : Anhui Prov・Henan Prov・Shaanxi Prov・Yangzhou City・Dunhuang City
■India : Varanasi City
■Indonesia : Province of Yogyakarta Special Region
■Philippines : Aurora Prov.
■South Korea : Gyeonggi-do Prov・Chungcheongnam-do Prov
・Gongju City・Seosan City・Buyeo County・Jeollanam-do Prov
・Gyeongju City
■Japan : Aomori Pref・Yamagata Pref・Fukushima Pref
・Niigata Pref・Toyama Pref・Fukui Pref・Mie Pref・Shimane Pref
・Kochi Pref・Niigata City・Tenri City・Asuka Village
●Facilitator : Mr. MUTO, Hiroshi Vice-Commissioner, Japan Tourism Agency
●Program :
Opening
・Facilitator’s comments
・Session I: Presentations (1) – (10) by local and regional governments
・Comments by local and regional governments
・Facilitator’s comments
・Break
・Session II: Presentations (11) – (16) by local and regional governments
・Summary by facilitator
Closing
●Presentation Order :
Session 1.
(1) Anhui Prov. (China) (2) Henan Prov. (China) (3) Shaanxi Prov. (China) (4) Yangzhou City (China) (5) Niigata City (Japan) (6) Chungcheongnam-do Prov. (Korea) (7) Jeollanam-do Prov. (Korea) (8) Gyeongju City (Korea) (9) Aomori Pref. (Japan) (10) Yamagata Pref. (Japan)
Session 2.
(11) Varanasi City (India) (12) Province of Yogyakarta Special Region (Indonesia) (13) Seosan City (Korea) (14) Buyeo County (Korea) (15) Fukui Pref. (Japan) (16) Shimane Pref. (Japan)
Theme 2 : International Youth Exchange for the Next Generation
●Format : Keynote lecture, presentations by local and regional governments, and discussion with guest speakers. 2-part format.
●Participating local and regional governments : 4 local and regional governments
■South Korea : Gyeongsanbuk-do Province
■Japan : Nara Prefecture・Kumamoto Prefecture・Kashihara City
●Facilitator : Mr. TANINO, Sakutaro, Vice Chairman, Steering Committee for the East Asia Local and Regional Government Congress
●Keynote lecturer : Mr. TOKUNAGA, Tamotsu, Director General, National Institute for Educational Policy Research
●Guest speakers :
Mr. ANZAI, Yuichiro, Executive Advisor for Academic Affairs, Keio University / Former President, Keio University /
Advisor, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
Mr. ITO, Tadamichi, President, Nara Prefectural University
Mr. HORIBA, Atsushi, Chairman, President & CEO, HORIBA Ltd.
●Program :
Opening
・Keynote lecture
・Break
・Session I: Presentation by local and regional governments (1) & (2)
・Discussion
・Session II: Presentation by local and regional governments (3) & (4)
・Discussion
・Summary by facilitator
Closing
●Presentation Order :
Session 1.：(1) Kumamoto Pref.（ Japan） (2) Kashihara City（ Japan）
Session 2.：(3) Gyeongsanbuk-do Prov.（ Korea） (4) Nara Pref.（ Japan）
4.Commemorative Lectures（October 7th）
●Program of events :
Lecture I : Mr. OKAMOTO, Yukio
Representative Executive of Okamoto Associates, Inc.
“Looking ahead into the Future of East Asia”
Lecture II : Mr. LEE, O Young
Chairman, Steering Committee / Initial Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Republic of
Korea / Honorary president, Nara Prefectural University
“The Potential and Prerequisites for an Asian Cultural Community”
5.Governor’s Banquet（October 7th）
6.Commemorative Ceremony and Official Reception of the 1300th Anniversary of Nara Heijo-kyo Capital（October 8th）
Joint Statement on the First East Asia Local and Regional Government Congress 2010 （Authentic）
Mutual cooperation for strong network-building among local and regional governments, having close relationships with their respective residents, is one of the most effective means of nurturing a sense of community in East Asia and for East Asia to concertedly contribute to global peace and prosperity.
In the context of rapidly increasing globalization and changing international paradigms, we East Asia local and regional governments share the universal stance of respecting our diversities in culture and tradition, fostered by the history and culture of our respective regions, as well as shifting the goal of peaceful and sustainable development now and into the future.
Upon this recognition, we who have come together in Nara on October 7, 2010, the 1,300th anniversary of the birth of the Japanese capital of Heijokyo, which was constructed in its day with the knowledge and technology of East Asia, hereby recognize anew the basic responsibility we local and regional governments have for the stable development and peace of East Asia, and agree to strengthen the collaboration between local and regional governments in accordance with the authority and responsibilities of each local and regional government.
To achieve this purpose, we welcome the call of Shogo Arai, Governor of Nara Prefecture, Japan,to establish the“ East Asia Local and Regional Government Congress,” and we will participate in this effort.
We“ East Asia Local and Regional Government Congress”（ hereinafter referred to as“ Congress”）shall perform the following.
1. In accordance with the“ Nara Charter” adopted on this day,
（1） The Congress shall convene a meeting every year, where each member will report their current realities and challenges for mutual sharing and learning.
（2） We will particularly address the challenges shared by the local and regional governments, such as the development of the local economy, the maintenance and conservation of the natural environment and traditional values, dealing with local environmental issues, improving the quality of life of residents including population ageing, correcting intra- and inter-regional disparities, and human resources development including education. Together with researchers, experts, and those involved on site in these fields, we will discuss in depth and consider solutions.
（3） Through means such as periodicals we will swiftly report on what was presented and discussed during such meetings, making our results available for the use of other local and regional governments,while at the same time helping to raise the level of awareness and understanding of the realities of East Asia in the minds of our central governments as well as of the general public.
2. For the purpose of achieving the goals of the Congress and expanding its significance,
we will
（1） Issue a broad call to other local and regional governments in East Asia to expand our
membership；
（2） Through collaboration with existing conference organizations, mainly organized around East Asia local and regional governments and groups, we will exchange, accumulate, and share information and knowledge； and
（3） Placing importance on the construction of multilateral cooperative relationships and on the building of confidence in East Asia that is currently being pursued by our central governments, and based on cooperating with our central governments, we will engage in activities which will help to achieve this objective and provide information, knowledge, and views as required, while calling on our central governments to support our activities.
In addition to cooperation among central governments, we will emphasize the value of building a framework of cooperation between local and regional governments based on their respective authorities and responsibilities of each as we explore ways to collaborate with our central governments.
The Congress Meeting for the year of 2011 shall be held by Nara Prefecture.
（Oct 7, 2010）