Asian Network of Major Cities 21

We, the representatives of Bangkok, Delhi, Hanoi, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Metropolitan Manila, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei and Tokyo, participated in the Fifth Plenary Meeting of the Asian Network of Major Cities 21 (ANMC21), held in Taipei from April 12 to 15, 2006. We conducted open and friendly discussions about the Joint Projects of ANMC21 and the issues and problems common to major Asian cities. In our presentations, we explored ways to more fully express the positive aspects of our cities-while minimizing the negative ones-as major Asian cities develop further and play a more important role in the international community during the 21st century.

We express our sincere gratitude to the City of Taipei, which, as the Host City, brought this Fifth Plenary Meeting to a successful conclusion.

Recognizing the crucial role of major Asian cities in creating quality of life for our citizens and furthering the common prosperity and development of ANMC21 member cities, we hereby declare that:

1. During the four years since the establishment of the ANMC21, we have resolved to advance our shared vision of stability, security, and prosperity for our peoples, and to establish closer cooperative relationships among the major Asian cities. We have produced steady results in implementing together the 18 joint projects, including “Promotion of Development of a small to medium-sized Jet Passenger Plane” and “Countermeasures to Combat Infectious Diseases in Asia.” We agreed that based on the results achieved, we will together investigate how to improve upon these projects.

2. In this Plenary Meeting, we focused on “Information Technology in Enhancing Urban Functions and Civil Services”an issue of concern to all member cities. Information and communications technologies can help major cities in Asia overcome various problems of city governance. Asia has high ICT potential and we can provide more civic services built on information and communications technologies, as a way of bridging the digital divide. We have an understanding that, by mustering our internal strength and cooperating with one another, we will work to develop our cities intelligently, and will make active efforts to utilize ICT in order to increase the presence of Asia in the international community.

3. We recognize that physical construction of a city alone is not enough to make it grand. It would be more important for the major Asian cities to respect each other’s unique characteristics, achieve sustainable growth, and improve social equity. In this meeting, we, as major cities in Asia, have reaffirmed our commitment to friendship and cooperation, and have pledged to keep working together to tackle the challenges that we share in common, such as environmental issues, promotion of culture and tourism, establishing women’s rights, and joint development of new technology, in our efforts to build world-leading cities.

4. The Sixth Plenary Meeting of the ANMC21 shall be held in Metropolitan Manila in November, 2007.