Our governor exchanged opinions with Mr. Ridwan Kamil, the Governor of the West Java Province regarding the 11th East Asia Local and Regional Government Congress, which was postponed to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Date: Wednesday, August 25th, 2021 from 15:00 to 15:30
Participants: Governor ARAI Shogo and Mr. Ridwan Kamil, the Governor of West Java Province

(Mr. Ridwan Kamil, the Governor of West Java Province)
- The spread of COVID-19 in West Java Province was very severe situation in July and the bed occupancy rate (BOR) was over 90%. However, the present BOR has dropped to 20%. The West Java Province vaccination program has been carried out for vaccinating 37 million West Java people. The 80% of Indonesian people will be vaccinated in December, 2021.
- The pandemic in Indonesia will calm down and we will proceed to recover situation steadily. Therefore, I am confident that I can hold the congress and welcome you in West Java Province in November, 2022.
- I would like to focus on the post pandemic governance and economy and discuss the future of East Asia during the 11th Congress. Let’s continue to cooperate with each other.

(Mr. ARAI Shogo, the Governor of Nara Prefecture)
- I fully support your decision, which is to hold the face-to-face congress on site based on your deep understanding of the congress purpose even though the 11th congress is postponed for about two years.
-The Delta variants of COVID-19 are raging all over Japan and the numbers of infected cases are increasing again. However, I look forward to seeing you and the member governments to share wisdom of the local governments including Indonesia, China and South Korea in Bandung City in 2022.

We will look back at the histories and circumstances of the East Asia Local and Regional Government Congress’s establishment. Please come to the Exhibition!

(1) Date and Time     July 27th (Tue.) – August 1st (Sun.), 2021     From 9:00 to 20:00   (2)  Place       Nara Prefectural Library and Information Center,       2nd Floor, the Entrance Hall       (1000, Nishi 1-chome, Daianji, Nara City)

    Regarding the congress, which will be held by West Java Province, Indonesia this year, it was originally planned to be held in November, 2020, and postponed to November, 2021 due to the COVID-19.

    However, the situation surrounding the COVID-19 infection is still in a severe state in East Asian countries and each country has restrictions to travel abroad, hence it is difficult to hold the international congress offline on-site.

    Considering all circumstances, we have discussed with the host of the congress, West Java Province, and we reached the conclusion that we should forgo holding the congress offline this year and postpone it again for about one year.

    We will continue to rearrange with West Java Province in order to hold a fruitful offline congress in Bandung City, West Java Province in 2022, to discuss the common issues among the member governments and deepen mutual understanding and interactions with each other.

Date: From Thursday, November 11th to Saturday, November 13th, 2021        

　　　　　　　　　　　　　→Postponed again for about one year.
Place: Bandung City, West Java Province, Republic of Indonesia

Organizer: West Java Province, Republic of Indonesia and the “East Asia Local and

Regional Government Congress” Secretariat (Nara Prefecture)

(Comments from the Governor of West Java Province)
He thinks it is important that the East Asia Local and Regional Government Congress will be held offline and the member governments will gather and discuss in person on-site. However, West Java Province has the highest population in Indonesia, and is a buffer zone to the capital, Jakarta, therefore he judged that it is not a suitable time for all members to travel safely to Indonesia and participate in the congress in November 2021. He sincerely hopes that this pandemic will come to an end soon and I look forward to seeing all member governments in Bandung City in Indonesia in 2022.

   Dujiangyan City, Sichuan Province in the People’s Republic of China has become a new member of the East Asia Local and Regional Government Congress as of May 10th, 2021.

   As a result, the Congress now has 75 local and regional government members from 7 nations.

   Dujiangyan City has an ancient irrigation system, Dujiangyan, which was built more than 2200 years ago, Mount Qingcheng, which is the birth place of Taoism, and it is particularly famous for having a habitat for pandas. (The “Mount Qingcheng and the Dujiangyan Irrigation System” were registered as world cultural heritage sites in 2000.)
Currently, Dujiangyan City has friendly relations with 25 cities and deep interests in interacting with local governments, therefore they became a new member of the congress.

   We are continuing to promote the new member government’s admissions to the congress for further fruitful development. Therefore, we would appreciate all member governments’ cooperation and support.

Click here for the Overview of Dujiangyan City.

We will look back at the histories and circumstances of the East Asia Local and Regional Government Congress’s establishment. Please come to the Exhibition!

(1) Date and Time 　　February 15th, 2021 (Mon.)　From 12:00 to 17:15 　　February 16th, 2021 (Tue.) 　From　8:30 to 17:15 　　February 17th, 2021 (Wed.)　From　8:30 to 17:15 　　February 18th, 2021 (Thu.)　 From　8:30 to 17:15 　　February 19th, 2021 (Fri.)　　From　8:30 to 15:00 (2) Place 　　The Rooftop Gallery in the Nara Prefectural Office 　　(30 Noboriojicho, Nara City)

The Tourism Section Meeting was held for the working-level officials from the Japanese Member Governments as a theme of the “Promotion of Tourism in the era co-existing with COVID-19.”

◆ Date : Wednesday, December 2nd, 2020 from 14:00 to 16:00
◆ Organizer : Nara Prefecture
◆ Venue : Multi-purpose room, Heijokyu Izanai-kan, Nara Palace Site Historical Park

◆ Outline
○ Lecture Lecturer
   Mr. GOTO Kenichi
    Place & Culture Designer, NOASOBI Regional Revitalization Producer,
    Chairman/C.E.O. (In charge of the Regional Revitalization) of Snow Peak Regional
    Revitalization Consulting Inc., and others.

○ Case Introductions from the Member Governments
・Director KIRITA, the Tourism Capacity Improvement Division,
    Nara Prefectural Government
・Director HATAJIRI, the Overseas Marketing Strategy Division, City of Takayama,
   Gifu Prefectural Government (Online)

◆ Participants
・At the venue
   22 organizations (17 local governments, 2 organizations, 3 guest local governments)
   64 people
・Online
   18 organizations (14 local governments, 2 organizations, 2 guest local governments)
   33 people
・Total
   35 organizations (27 local governments, 4 organizations, 4 guest local governments)
   97 people
    * Out of 35 organizations, 5 organizations (4 local governments and 1 guest local
     government) participated both at the venue and online.

[At the Venue]
・Yamagata Prefecture, Fukushima Prefecture, Niigata Prefecture, Ishikawa Prefecture, Fukui Prefecture, Yamanashi Prefecture, Nagano Prefecture, Shizuoka Prefecture, Wakayama Prefecture, Shimane Prefecture, Tokushima Prefecture, Kagawa Prefecture, Kochi Prefecture, Nara City, Gose City, Koryo Town, and Nara Prefecture
・Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
・Guests: Okayama Prefecture, Hiroshima Prefecture, and Ehime Prefecture

[Online]
・Fukui Prefecture, Gifu Prefecture, Shizuoka Prefecture, Mie Prefecture, Tottori Prefecture, Shimane Prefecture, Kagawa Prefecture, Arakawa City, Kofu City, Takayama City, Katsuragi City, Ikaruga Town, Asuka Village, and Shimoichi Town
・Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR) and UNWTO Regional Support Office for Asia and the Pacific
・Guests: Yamaguchi Prefecture, and Ehime Prefecture

【Report】
○ As a new attempt for this time, the participants attended the Section Meeting at the venue of the Nara Palace Site Historical Park or online.
○ Lecturer, Mr. GOTO Kenichi gave a lecture regarding the theme, “Regional Revitalization with NOASOBI (spending luxury time in nature) SDGs and Regional Value in the Era of Globalization and How Best to Use it.”
○ During the case introductions from the member governments, Director KIRITA, the Tourism Capacity Improvement Division, Nara Prefectural Government gave us a presentation regarding measures for the tourism against COVID-19. Director HATAJIRI, the Overseas Marketing Strategy Division, City of Takayama, Gifu Prefectural Government gave us an online presentation regarding post-COVID-19 inbound tourism strategies in Takayama City.

【Lecture and Summary by the Lecturer】
○ First we should accept the current situation, which has been affected by COVID-19, then we will consider how we can evolutionally grow againt that. It is important that we don’t negatively see the rural areas as having “nothing there”, we should recognize the value of each area’s different “individuality” with our global mind.
○ The important thing is “concrete action at the actual place.” We will improve the overall attractiveness of places using NOASOBI and abundant nature, which rural areas originally have, and make the places where people within and outside of Japan would like to come all the way to visit.
○ The important thing about the regional revitalization during the era of globalization is “Opening and Connecting.”
Connecting to the world with the ability to trust and smiles from local regions, Japan, and East Asia. We will bring on evolutional businesses from each region for multi class targets including high classes. The relationship of the East Asia Local and Regional Government Congress is the result of Nara Prefecture “Opening and Connecting”, and it is important that using this relationship to expand “Fun and Tasty NOASOBI SDGs” together.

　　　　　Lecture by the lecturer　 　　　　　　　　　　The case introduction by Nara Prefecture

The case introduction by Takayama City (online)　　　　　　　Opinion exchanges

Guizhou Province in the People’s Republic of China has become a new member of the East Aisa Local and Regional Government Congress as of September 29 ^th, 2020.

As a result, the Congress now has 74 local and regional government members from 7 nations.

Click here for the Overview of Guizhou Province.

Our governor exchanged opinions with Mr. Ridwan Kamil, the governor of West Java Province regarding holding the 11th East Asia Local and Regional Government Congress in Bandung City, West Java Province in the Republic of Indonesia that was decided to be postponed until 2021 with the COVID-19 global pandemic in mind.

○ Date: Wednesday, September 9th, 2020 from 15:00 to 15:40
○ Participants: Governor ARAI Shogo and Mr. Ridwan Kamil, the governor of West Java Province

(Mr. Ridwan Kamil, the Governor of West Java Province)

○ The West Java Province team will try to do their best to hold the 11th Congress in 2021 make sure it’s a success.
○ The West Java Province team will consider whether the discussion themes can be changed to the ones related to COVID-19 or not.

(Governor ARAI Shogo)

○ We, Nara Prefecture would like to express our appreciation to hold the 11th Congress in West Java Province in 2021. We look forward to seeing you, Mr. Ridwan Kamil at the congress.
○ The expectation of holding the 11th Congress in Bandung City is increasing more and more. We would like many people to participate in it.
○ Balancing both prevention of spreading COVID-19, and social and economic activity are the common issues in local governments. We agree to consider them as the discussion themes.

   We will look back at the histories and circumstances of the East Asia Local and Regional Government Congress’s establishment. Please come to the Exhibition!

（１）Date and Time            July 28th (Tue.) – August 2nd (Sun.), 2020             From 9:00 to 20:00    （２）Place            Nara Prefectural Library and Information Center            2nd Floor, beside the café            (1000, Nishi 1-chome, Daianji, Nara)