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| This year’s congress is hosted in Hue City, known for its tourism potential and green urban development |
According to the Organizing Committee, the purpose of the 14th Congress is to maintain a cooperation mechanism among member localities of the East Asia Local and Regional Government Congress, to strengthen friendship and mutual trust among member governments, and to seek opportunities for exchange and collaboration across various fields; thereby, contributing to peace and shared prosperity in the region.
At the same time, it aims to create a forum for discussing practical experiences and challenges, as well as sharing solutions to common issues related to the 14th Congress’s two key themes: sustainable green tourism and smart cities. The event will also expand cooperation among existing and new participating localities, most notably through the signing of a Friendship Cooperation Agreement between Hue City and Nara Prefecture (Japan).
This congress will focus on exchanging challenges and difficulties, and sharing development experiences and solutions around two main topics: “Developing sustainable and green tourism” and “Developing smart cities.”
The themed session on “Developing sustainable and green tourism” will focus on two key topics: Health and wellness tourism - unlocking potential and setting trends, and Plastic-reduction tourism as a step toward achieving Net Zero goals. The session will center on the exchange of experiences and solutions among government agencies, businesses, and tourism experts, especially in the fields of wellness tourism and plastic reduction. Discussions will also explore sustainable tourism models that balance economic development with environmental protection and propose policies to encourage initiatives that minimize the tourism industry’s environmental impact, moving toward Net Zero objectives.
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| As part of the congress’s series of activities, there will be a dedicated space for investment and trade promotion exhibits |
The “Developing smart cities” session with the theme of “Smart governance based on digital data” focuses on sharing experiences, challenges, and the introduces appropriate management and technological solutions in areas such as smart transportation, smart healthcare, smart education, urban order management through camera systems, and urban planning with comprehensive data digitization models and solutions.
The East Asia Local and Regional Government Congress is a multilateral forum held annually for local governments in the East Asia region. It is a cooperation mechanism initiated by Nara Prefecture (Japan) in 2010, on the occasion of the 1.300th anniversary of Nara Ancient Capital (also known as Heijo-kyo). Participants include local governments from Japan, China, South Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
Since then, the congress has been held annually and has gone through 13 editions, aiming to provide a platform for local government representatives to share development experiences, enhance exchanges, foster friendship, and contribute to peace and development in East Asia. Currently, 76 localities from 7 countries are part of the Congress mechanism, with Nara Prefecture (Japan) serving as the Permanent Secretariat of the forum.