Beleidsdialoog tussen EU en Japan over stedelijke ontwikkeling (en)

On Thursday 10 October REGIO Director General, Walter Deffaa, signed a Letter of Intent creating an urban policy dialogue with Japan, in the presence of Tetsu Kabashima, Deputy Director General of the City Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT). This represents the ninth formalized relationship with a non-EU country on cooperation in the field of regional and urban policy following the signature earlier this year of a Letter of Intent with the Ministry of External Relations of Peru (who spoke at the Open Days session on Tuesday 8 October on the theme of "International experience in promoting integration and socio-economic development within cities and across borders"). The delegation from Japan was comprised of representatives of MLIT as well as those from the cities of Kanazawa, Kumamoto and Kitakyushu. The visitors were in Europe on the reciprocal leg of the visit to Japan in 2012 by the city authorities of Stockholm, Torino and Leipzig, and to participate in the Open Days session entitled, "Putting urban development into an international context". Among the main themes discussed at the Open Days were those of: transport and the objective of the 'compact' city'; creating the 'green city' against a background of heavy industrial pollution; 'culture' as an urban development opportunity. For more details on this EU-Japan exchange programme, an example of the "decentralised cooperation" which REGIO is promoting in its relations with third countries in order actively to involve regional and urban authorities, follow the link:

http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/cooperate/international/other_en.cfm#3