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TOKYO: Tokyo Governor KOIKE Yuriko is keen to reinforce relationships between Japan’s capital and partner cities in the Middle East following her trip to the region in November when she visited Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
Her program in Cairo featured talks with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Aati and Cairo Governor Ibrahim Saber, in addition to her attendance at the 12th World Urban Forum on sustainable urbanization where she stated: “I am moving Tokyo forward to a better future.”
Koike has also emphasized the role of startups in urban development. “As we enter a period of major change in the industrial structure, and startups drive global change and growth, it is vital to nurture and cooperate with startups that generate innovation,” she says.
Koike has been promoting SusHi Tech Tokyo, one of Asia’s largest startup conferences, aimed at creating sustainable new value with cutting-edge technology. In May, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government will host SusHi Tech Tokyo 2025, which is expected to bring together over 500 startups and investors, as well as at least 50,000 visitors from Japan and abroad, and result in more than 5,000 business negotiations.
“In May, we will hold SusHi Tech Tokyo 2025 to accelerate open innovation with challengers from around the world,” Koike said. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Emirate of Abu Dhabi have signed an agreement on city-to-city cooperation in digital transformation and other practical areas, while Egyptian Communications and Information Minister Amr Talat told Koike that the startup and entrepreneurship sectors stand out as possible areas of cooperation between Egypt and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
Koike also met with Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince, Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and attended a promotion event in the UAE capital by several Tokyo startup companies specializing in sustainable materials, products and devices. The firms included a heatstroke-alarm watch maker and the world’s largest vertical indoor strawberry farm.
The future envisaged by Koike includes greater resilience against natural disasters. The Tokyo Resilience Project prepares Tokyo against increasingly intense and frequent heavy rains due to climate change and other natural disasters.
As part of the project, Tokyo is building huge “underground regulating reservoirs” connected to the sea to prevent flooding in urban areas and rivers from overflowing.
Tokyo is also committed to the goal of achieving zero emissions by 2050. “Tokyo will spearhead the social implementation of clean energy,” she stated.
Tokyo has also been promoting exchanges of high school students with Middle Eastern countries to raise youth awareness towards the creation of a multicultural inclusive society and to cultivate the mindset that encourages students to collaborate with others in solving global challenges.
Since 2022, the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education has dispatched 109 students from Tokyo metropolitan high schools to places such as Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Egypt and Turkey for the purpose of developing global human resources. At the same time, the board has invited high school students from the Middle East for international exchanges.
Another exchange in culture and science is the agreement between the Tokyo Metropolitan Library and the Bibliotheca Alexandria in Egypt to explore their cooperation in the AI-driven digital age.
This article is based on a report from SEKIGUCHI Noboru, Tokyo Metropolitan Government Special Advisor to the Governor on International Affairs