The city of Yokohama

Hybrid-type public relations activities for the 8th Asia Smart City Conference were enhanced by Nikkei Asia's digital and print content.

The city of Yokohama held the 8th Asia Smart City Conference on Oct. 8-11, 2019.

Government officials from Asian countries, domestic and foreign business officials involved in urban development in Asia, and officials from international organizations participated in the forum to discuss various issues that Asian cities, especially in emerging countries, are currently facing.

A place for business matching was set up to provide participants with know-how from companies in the city.

Nikkei Asia (formerly Nikkei Asian Review) was used for the first time as a public relations medium for the announcement and post-report of the plenary session.

Toru Hashimoto, director of the city's international bureau, said, "In order to inform the participants of the plenary session, information dissemination is premised on English, and Nikkei Asia was considered to be a medium that pierces the target." This time, the public relations activities were carried out in two parts, and the first public relations activities conducted starting one month before the end of the meeting.

Features of the 8th meeting, an example of the development of the Y-PORT project (international technical cooperation through public-private partnership utilizing Yokohama's resources and technology) in Asia, and a digital version to comprehensively incorporate the message of Yokohama Mayor Fumiko Hayashi.

The second post-event report was carried out with a two-page spread of the printed version, and the Yokohama Declaration adopted at the plenary session was also included as content. Immediately after the conference in Yokohama, it was distributed to visitors to the 7th Asia-Pacific City Forum (APUF-7) international conference in Penang, Malaysia. "The good thing about the printed version is that it can be distributed on-site. I was able to display the city’s efforts immediately, without losing timing," Hashimoto said.

"Nikkei Asia is suitable as a medium to widely publicize such international conferences, and there was a sense of security because article advertisements were produced with clear English expressions and readability. Also, it was divided into two stages. I felt it was effective, as it helped us carry out our public relations activities," he said.