The series "Profile: A person of Asia" feature administrative officers, who work actively every day in Asia, and international students, who are expected to play active roles in Asian cities in the future. This issue features Mr. Denis Shvedov of Tomsk Region Administration (former liaison officer for Asian Network of Major Cities 21 (ANMC21)).

Fascinated by distant lands
-What made me the person I am today-

Traveling became a passion for me in the childhood. Then I read plenty of books by Jules Verne and other writers and imagined places all over the world and people of different cultures who lived there. I was fascinated by distant lands, so one day I firmly decided that when I grow up there should be a place for foreign countries in my life. As a result, in high school I chose International Relations as my future profession.

I assume that our child impressions and beliefs – even if they are far from reality – have a great impact on our lives. I can hardly surprise anyone by saying that my childhood dream of adventures in unknown lands became history. Meanwhile I found out that traveling is an incredible thing if you want to comprehend the Universe and learn about human life. Moreover, I understand now that foreign experience should be used to improve people's lives. Any culture, any nation and even any place has its own solutions to various problems. Thus, people from all over the world should exchange their experience for the sake of comfortable lifestyle and sustainable future. This became an important reason for me to pursue career in public service, as I am convinced that the primary goal for the government of any level is to establish necessary conditions for comfortable life of the citizens.

Young athletes from Tomsk took part in the Asia Junior Sports Exchange Games in Tokyo
-Recent activities at work-

The most challenging project I have worked on recently was the Tomsk Innovation Forum INNOVUS 2013. It is a biannual event for the representatives of business, science and government from Russia and abroad who come together to discuss the status and challenges associated with new technologies and outline the vector for the Russian and regional development.

For several years I was fully engaged in preparatory work for this event that is of special importance for my city. My colleagues and I were contact persons for foreign participants, and their number went up with every year. Our task was to ensure their successful participation in the event.

I like to communicate with people; it always allows me to learn something new. INNOVUS is not an exception. There I had an opportunity to meet people with backgrounds in finance, science and technology, and even a brief conversation with them expanded my horizons. However, my most memorable work-related experiences came from interaction with younger people. This year the team of athletes from Tomsk took part in the Asia Junior Sports Exchange Games in Tokyo. It was their first chance to compete with athletes from Asia and I saw that they were happy to be there. Our young athletes came back with the new knowledge of the Judo technique and valuable experience. I am very proud that my job directly or indirectly helped them to become wiser and more experienced.

Identify the potential role of my city in ANMC21
-ANMC21 & Me-

Soon after joining Tomsk Region Administration, I was designated as a liaison officer for ANMC21. Then Tomsk was just an observer city to the Network and I needed to learn more about this organization and identify the potential role of my city in it. Ms. Akiko Miyazaki was my counterpart from the secretariat. I should say that her openness and patience enabled Tomsk to become actively engaged in the network activities.

As an observer Tomsk was invited to join staff capacity enhancement projects such as waterworks courses. I remember that our engineers from water supply organization returned home inspired by Tokyo achievements in the fields of water supply and sewage treatment. It was a good sign for me – best foreign practices, which I consider an important thing for development, could be used in my city. Then my colleagues visited Taipei to learn about ICT use for urban development and were glad to see what could be achieved with modern technologies.

My colleagues and I saw that ANMC21 projects were a good way to learn about solutions to the typical problems of Asian cities and the best practices that could be used in Tomsk. Moreover, we understood that it is important to share our own experience with other member cities. We decided to go ahead and join the network, in order to learn from others and share our own ideas with them.

Thanks to the help of secretariat and support of member cities Tomsk joined ANMC21 in 2012. Since that time, we have been working on a new project. Tomsk is a university city, so the field of education was chosen for the project. In today's globalized world education is key to knowledge sharing and understanding between people from all over the world. The concept of the new project is not yet finalized, but it is clear that student exchange and academic mobility will be the main tool for its implementation.

The beauty of bright and colorful leaves reflected in the Tom River
-About my city-

Tomsk is a lovely place. I was born and grew elsewhere, but soon after I moved here to study at the University I fell in love with the city and its beautiful wooden houses. I like to walk and enjoy the streets of the Tomsk.

Wherever I go, I am fascinated by open spaces. My favorite place in Tomsk is "Lagerny Sad" (Camp Garden).The name of the park is derived from the fact that a military regiment was camped there in late 18th century. However, the territory soon became a spot of wild nature in the city and one of the main attractions for Tomskovites. It is especially stunning in autumn when trees are covered with bright and colorful leaves reflected in the Tom River. I find it relaxing to go there and get inspired by the beauty of nature.