Moritoshi Sato, Assistant Secretary General of CITYNET
For almost 20 years now, CITYNET has contributed solutions to a variety of urban problems in the Asia-Pacific region. I am very pleased that I can now be part CITYNET.
In 1989, I was in charge of the Yokohama Exotic Showcase. My main task was to interact with foreign guests that visited the exhibition. That same year, Yokohama City became the president of CITYNET, and the Secretariat was established in Minato Mirai.
Now membership has increased to nearly 120 members and CITYNET has been involved in various programmes divided into four clusters related to urban sustainable development. One of the clusters is disaster.
Japan encountered an unprecedented disaster on March11, 2011 and is still suffering from the aftermath. Japan has received assistance from many countries, including CITYNET members. I want to share the lessons we have learned in Japan and ways to cope with such disasters to other members. Disasters can not be eliminated, but together we can minimise the risks and the damage.
I will do my best to focus on management issues, including the relocation of the office to Seoul.
Moritoshi Sato
Assistant General, CITYNET
