Regarding the 11^th East Asia Local and Regional Government Congress, it was decided that West Java Province, Republic of Indonesia will host it from November 4^th to 6^th, 2020 at Bandung City. However, considering the current Covid-19 infection status, we discussed with the host of the 11^th Congress, West Java Province and concluded that it will be difficult to hold the 11^th Congress on the date originally planned. We decided that it would be postponed by about one year.

 　 Moreover, the new date of the 11^th Congress will be discussed and arranged together with West Java Province, and we will inform you later.

Date: Wednesday, November, 4^th to Friday, November, 6^th, 2020 (The original date)

　　　→Postponed by about one year.

Place: Bandung City, West Java Province, Republic of Indonesia
Organizer: West Java Province, Republic of Indonesia, Secretariat of the East Asia Local and Regional Government Congress (Nara Prefecture)

(West Java Province’s comment.)
　　As a global issue, the Covid-19 global pandemic has affected many aspects, in particular, regarding international travel regulation, in which the majority of affected countries tend to curb international travel permits.

　　Amid the uncertainty prediction of when the post-pandemic would begin, it is hard for us to recommend the congress to be postponed by next year finally. We have endeavored systematic attempts to prepare this congress possible to held this year so far, nevertheless, through careful considerations, it seems to be better momentum for us to meet up face to face for strengthening our partnership after the pandemic.

   Tawaramoto Town in Japan has become a member of the East Asia Local and Regional Government Congress as of March 31st, 2020.

  As a result, the Congress now has 73 local and regional government members from 7 nations.

   We will inform you that you can access see the Memorial Movie of the East Asia Local and Regional Government Congress on the following site.

   Moreover, please see the utilization policy to confirm the prohibited items, the exemption items and so on before you will watch it.

• The East Asia Local and Regional Government Congress “Memorial Movie”

  URL：https://youtu.be/A80dmrHHBAw

  ※The above link will direct you to a third-party site (YouTube).

• Utilization Policy.pdf(251KB)

   The Memorial Movie (approx. 10 min.) was for retracing the East Asia Local and Regional Government Congress’s history through the photos and also the interview with Mr. ISHIHARA Nobuo who was the chairman of the East Asia Local and Regional Government Congress Executive Committee at the time of the Congress’ establishment. We hope you enjoy watching it.

    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 7 th, 2020 (Fri.)	From 12:00 to 17:15
February 8 th, 2020 (Sat.)	From 13:00 to 17:00
February 9 th, 2020 (Sun.)	From 13:00 to 17:00
February 10 th, 2020 (Mon.)	From 8:30 to 15:00
（２） Place
The Rooftop Gallery in the Nara Prefectural Office (30 Noboriojicho, Nara City)

The report on the 10th Congress has been updated under “What We Do”.

(Topics)
◆The 10th East Asia Local and Regional Government Congress:
  November 6th (Wed.) – 8th (Fri.), 2019 

For more information, please see “ 10th Congress<2019> Congress Report” under “Congress Report”.

　The 10th East Asia Local and Regional Government Congress “Welfare and Medical Treatment Section Meeting” was held in Koryo Town. The opinions were exchanged by working-level participants from Local and Regional Governments.

◆ Date: Thursday, August 29th, 2019 13:20-16:10

◆ Organizer: Koryo Town
　　　　　　　　　　(Co-organized by Nara Prefecture and assistance by Kio University)

◆ Place: The Sawayaka Hall, the General Health Welfare Center in Koryo Town

◆ Participants: Working-level officials of Nara City, Tenri City, Gose City, Miyake Town,
　　　　　　　　　　　　Asuka Village, Shimoichi Town, Koryo Town, and Nara Prefecture
　　　　　　　　　　　　(This section meeting was only for member governments in Japan.)

◆ Coordinator: Mr. Yuji Kondo, Part-time Lecturer, Tenri University

◆ Lecturer: Professor Katsuhiko Takatori, Kio University
　　　　　　　　　Associate Professor Moon Jong-Seong, Kio University
　　　　　　　　　Associate Professor Daisuke Matsumoto, Kio University

[Outline]
After the case presentations by Koryo Town and lecturers regarding Koryo Town’s health promotion and the training care prevention leader, the participating regional governments gave the case presentations regarding the gathering of places operated by residents, the creating of mutual support and help, the health stations, and so on. Lastly, the coordinator concluded the meeting based on the presentations and opinion exchanges.

[Summary by coordinator]
- Regional Governments’ efforts toward realization of “enhancement of welfare and medical treatment supported by communities” took a step forward providing and supporting the facilities for medical treatment and welfare as well as toward the present problem of how to motivate their residents to join.
- Creation of social capital forms is one core idea for it, however in this Section Meeting, the training of leaders, the gathering of places operated by residents, the nursing care prevention class for males, and so on were reported as a success case, which could motivate their residents using resources from communities and residents.
- We had meaningful exchanges in the Section Meeting, which can show people that regional governments can try various new things to solve our problems, especially in demographic transitions, which can be a cause of destroying human relationships in East Asian regions. We hope we can report our discussion results and we can discuss continuously at the 10th Congress.

     “East Asia Local and Regional Government Congress” is an annual international congress, which was mainly advocated by Nara Prefecture in commemoration of the 1300th anniversary of the Nara Heijo-kyo Capital. The objectives of this Congress are to provide the opportunity for representatives of the local and regional governments from East Asian countries to update one another on the realities and challenges of the regions, discuss common issues to solve the problems, promote deeper mutual understanding, and to improve their administrative capabilities.
     In the 10th Congress, the discussions regarding the following two themes, which peak the interests from local and regional governments will be carried out. Moreover, the memorial programs such as the 10th anniversary special speech and so on will be implemented to celebrate the 10th anniversary congress.


1. Date and Venue
     Date: November, 6th (Wed.) to 8th (Fri.), 2019　　Venue: Hotel Nikko Nara

2. Discussion Themes and Lecturers
     Theme 1: Promotion of Tourism
     Lecture: Kosuke Motani (Chief Senior Economist, the Japan Research Institute, Ltd.)

     Theme 2: Enhancement of Welfare and Medical Treatment Supported by the Communities
     Lecturer: Taro Miyamoto  (Faculty of Law Professor in Chuo University, Professor Emeritus in Hokkaido University)

3. Summary
    See the appendix 1, The 10th East Asia Local and Regional Government Congress (PDF).

4. Number of Member Governments as of July 1st, 2019　
    72 Local and Regional Governments from 7 countries.
    China (16), Indonesia (2), Malaysia (1), Philippines (3), Korea (8), Viet Nam (5)

      and Japan (37)

※ Participating local and regional governments and the instruction for Mass Media of the

    10th Congress will be announced at the end of October.