Fukuoka, 30 May 2012
Dr. Joan Clos, UN-Habitat Executive Director, signed the 4th "Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the Establishment of an Office of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme in Fukuoka" together with Fukuoka Prefectural Government, Fukuoka City, the Fukuoka International Exchange Foundation, and the Cooperating Committee of the UN-Habitat Fukuoka Office on 30 May 2012.
The Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) was established on 1 August 1997 in Fukuoka City. The 1st MOU was signed on 28 April 1997 to agree on the support to ROAP for 5 years (1997-2002). Since then, the MOU was renewed three times in the past.
On the occasion of Dr. Clos's first visit to Fukuoka from 29 May through 1 June 2012, the five signing authorities agreed on the 4th MOU and held a signing ceremony on 30 May 2012.
During his visit to Fukuoka, Dr. Clos paid courtesy calls to Mr. Hiroshi Ogawa, Governor of Fukuoka Prefecture and Mr. Soichiro Takashima, Mayor of Fukuoka City. He expressed his thanks to their support to UN-Habitat ROAP over 15 years since its establishment and asked for continuous cooperation in various areas such as technical transfer of Fukuoka's knowledge and environmental technology.
In the speech at the Welcome Reception, Dr. Clos mentioned how he was impressed with the strong tie between ROAP and local partners including business communities, academics and civil societies as well as Fukuoka Prefectural Government and Fukuoka City.
from left, Mr. Shingo Matsuo, Chairman of the Cooperating Committee of the UN-Habitat Fukuoka Office; Mr. Hiroshi Ogawa, Governor of Fukuoka Prefecture, Dr. Joan Clos, Executive Director of UN-Habitat; Mr. Soichiro Takashima, Mayor of Fukuoka, Mr. Junichi Ishikawa, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors, Fukuoka International Exchange Foundation
