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YOKOHAMA, JAPAN - Wednesday, 7 November, 2007 - Hiroshi Nakada, the mayor the City of Yokohama, Japan, will visit Makati City in the Republic of the Philippines and Hanoi City in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam from November 13 to 17. His visit aims to strengthen the network with East Asian cities, such as attending the 23rd executive committee meeting of CITYNET, a regional organization of cities in Asia Pacific (president city: Yokohama), and signing the “Memorandum of Understanding on Partnership between Hanoi City and the City of Yokohama.”
In Makati, Mayor Nakada will attend the 23rd executive committee meeting of CITYNET with other metropolises and organizations in the Asia Pacific region. In addition, as the president of CITYNET, he will host a reception to strengthen the relationship among Asia Pacific cities and other organizations such as United Nations agencies. He will also promote exchanges with other rapidly growing Asian cities by participating in a seminar on public hygiene and having a courtesy call on the Mayor of Makati City.
In Hanoi, the “Memorandum of Understanding on Partnership between Hanoi City and City of Yokohama” will be signed with the purpose of encouraging cooperation in business and tourism, promoting human interactions and solving urban issues. This MOU also includes the strategic development of the re-internationalization of Haneda Airport in Tokyo with Hanoi. Last year, the City of Yokohama has concluded partnership city agreements with Beijing, Taipei, Busan Metropolitan City, and this year, with Ho Chi Minh City, so far.
In 2007, besides forging partner city alliances focusing in East Asia, the City of Yokohama also promoted exchanges with Nantes, France; Hamburg, Germany; and other cities. Furthermore, the new overseas representative office was opened in Los Angeles last month to support Yokohama’s international policy framework.
◆ About Yokohama
Yokohama lies on the peninsula around Tokyo Bay, approximately 30 kilometers (18 miles) southwest of the capital of Japan. Home to over 3.62 million people, Yokohama is Japan’s second largest city. The GDP of Yokohama is about 12 trillion 6.8 billion yen (roughly 112.2 billion US dollars) with main industries being electronic machinery, transportation machinery and service industry. As the gateway to the world, Yokohama has built its economic base largely through businesses with foreign countries since the early days of modern Japan. Today, Yokohama is Japan’s second largest trading port in terms of volume. The city sincerely welcomes foreign enterprises, international conferences and a wide variety of international events.
◆ CITYNET (Regional Network of Local Authorities for the Management of Human Settlements)
A non-profit international organization devotes to bring together cities and organizations in the Asia Pacific region in finding solutions to urban problems through mutual cooperation. Established in 1987, CITYNET currently maintains a membership of 69 cities and 38 organizations.
The City of Yokohama acts as the president city and hosts the secretariat of CITYNET. The city plays a major role in various fields such as assisting Indonesia to recover the waterworks from Tsunami; promoting environmental education; affiliating with EUROCITIES, an association of European cities; and facilitating the development of CITYNET.
◆ Makati City
Makati borders with the capital of Philippines, Manila, to the southeast. It has the largest commercial district in Philippines with a concentration of foreign companies and skyscrapers.
◆ Hanoi City
Hanoi is the capital of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. It is one of the nation’s leading industrial centers with a number of foreign companies including Japanese companies.
◆ Schedule of Mayor Nakada
| Date | Place | Plan |
| Tuesday,13 November | Arrive at Makati | |
| Wednesday, 14 | Makati | ・Courtesy call on the mayor of the city of Makati ・The 23rd executive committee meeting of CITYNET ・Reception hosted by Mayor Nakada as the president of CITYNET |
| Thursday, 15 | AM: Makati PM: Hanoi | ・Seminar on public hygiene Transfer to Hanoi |
| Friday, 16 | Hanoi | ・Signing the “Memorandum of Understanding on Partnership between Hanoi City and City of Yokohama Depart from Hanoi |
| Saturday, 17 | Arrive at Narita Airport |
◆ Sister-Friendship Cities, Sister-Friendship Trade Cooperation Ports and Partner Cities of Yokohama (as of November 7th, 2007)
| Sister-Friendship Cities（８） | San Diego, Lyon, Mumbai, Manila, Odessa, Vancouver, Shanghai, Constantza |
| Sister-Friendship Trade Cooperation Ports （６） | Oakland, Vancouver, Shanghai, Melbourne, Dalian, Hamburg |
| Partner Cities （４） | Beijing, Busan Metropolitan City, Taipei, Ho Chi Minh City |