On July 9, the NEAR Secretariat had an online dialogue with the working-level officials of Hyogo Prefecture, a NEAR member region in Japan, and exchanged ideas on cooperative measures for the years to come.
During the talk, CHOI Ju-hwa, director of the International Cooperation Department at the NEAR Secretariat, conveyed her appreciation to Hyogo Prefecture for its significant contribution to the development of NEAR, emphasizing the region’s efforts such as coordinating the Subcommittee on Disaster Prevention as well as its past position as the NEAR chair. She expressed her hopes that, even though there was a period of stagnation in terms of Hyogo’s participation in NEAR activities, Hyogo will play a leading role in many of NEAR activities.
In response, Oe Shinichiro, officer of international exchange, stated that Hyogo still values the cooperation with NEAR and is now actively considering measures to expand this exchange and collaboration. He expressed anticipation for more advanced and favorable discussions with NEAR during the upcoming visit by the NEAR Secretariat to Hyogo in August.
Hyogo has been the coordinator of the NEAR Subcommittee on Disaster Prevention since 2002, sharing its knowledge based on the region’s experience with damages from the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake on January 17, 1995.
The dialogue included Oe Shinichiro, Batshojugan, Inaba, and Ko Eunbyul from the Hyogo side, and Director Choi Ju-hwa, Kim Seo-hyun, and Lee Hanna from the NEAR Secretariat.