No.148 Promotion of Public-Private Partnerships

Public-private partnership refers to the collaboration with companies, universities, and other organizations in the city's administrative projects and events, which allows the city to promote further improvement of citizen services and regional revitalization. In turn, companies can enhance their image through the promotion of their products and social contributions, creating a mutually beneficial, so-called win-win relationship.

It is also referred to as "public-private partnership" and "collaboration between government, industry, academia, and citizens," but since local governments are not "government," the term "public-civil partnership" has been increasing in recent municipalities. I believe they all generally mean the same thing.

In our city, we have been mindful of public-private partnerships for some time, but in 2022, we were invited by Mayor Noda of Higashi-Osaka City to participate in the "National Forum for Promoting Public-Private Partnerships" that he established, which prompted us to further promote this concept.

What I learned by participating in this forum is that public-private collaboration is uneven, with progress in the Kansai region but delays in the Kanto region. In Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City, they have established the Inagi City Public-Private Collaboration Desk within the City Hall, which accepts free proposals for collaboration projects from companies at any time, while the administration presents challenges and solicits proposals. This desk is said to handle inter-departmental communication and coordination related to collaboration projects in a one-stop manner.

I believe that such good examples should be immediately adopted in Inagi City, so I included the establishment of the Public-Private Collaboration Desk in my election pledge for my fourth term last year, and it was established in the Policy and Planning Division on October 1st of last year.

After the desk was established, we began to receive proposals for collaborative projects from various private companies. Among them, I was introduced to the Public-Private Partnership Research Institute by Mr. Mikio Takahashi, the former mayor of Bibai City in Hokkaido, with whom I had previously worked at the National Mayors' Association.

This company aims to "solve local social issues by acting as a bridge between local governments and businesses, creating good precedents through public-private collaboration, and promoting sustainable Community Development." This has been a very timely encounter for Inagi City, which has just established the Inagi City Public-Private Collaboration Desk.

And, thanks to the coordination of the company, we were able to hold a joint agreement signing ceremony regarding public-private partnerships on March 25.

The first is that we have concluded a "Cooperation Agreement on Promoting Public-Private Partnerships" with the Public-Private Partnership Research Institute. Based on this agreement, we will receive information from the company about businesses that wish to implement collaborative projects, and they will also respond to consultations regarding the city's challenges.

The second is that we have concluded a comprehensive partnership agreement with Pigeon Corporation to realize a comprehensive parenting-friendly environment.

Pigeon Corporation is a specialist working on solving social issues surrounding babies and their families, and they have been looking for partners to contribute to the community in the Tokyo area. With the start of this comprehensive partnership agreement, we would like to actively engage in measures not only for Parenting support but also for countering the declining birthrate.

Thus, it was fortunate to be introduced to Pigeon Corporation as the first initiative shortly after meeting the Public-Private Partnership Research Institute. We will do our best to ensure that Inagi City can become a model for public-private partnerships.