Friday, October 23 2009, 08 PM
Primorye Sets Strong Business Relations with Japanese Prefectures
Ferry which links our territory with South Korea and Japanese prefecture Tottori started operating this year
VLADIVOSTOK, October 22, vladivostoktimes.com Protocol meeting between the Primorsky Territorry Governor Sergey DARKIN and the Governor of Akita Prefecture (Japan) Norihis SATAKE was held in Primorsky Territory Administration. During the meeting Sergey DARKIn noted that Primorye set strong business contacts with Japanese prefectures. For example, a ferry which links our territory with South Korea and Japanese prefecture Tottori started operating this year. “We plan to launch another ferry to Niigata” the Primorsky Territory press service reported to RIA PrimaMedia.
“Akita Prefecture has well-developed tourism and agriculture and we can set up joint business in these fields” Sergey DARKIN emphasized.
The Governor noted that nowadays Primorye is a very attractive region for investments and economic growth. In November Kozmino oil port which will provide oil supply from East Siberia to Asian Pacific region will start working. Construction of oil processing plant in Nakhodka area with capacity of 20 million tons of oil per year will start soon. Gambling area is being created in Primorye, modern hotels and infrastructure objects are being erected in Primorye for APEC Summit-2012. According to the Governor, these projects can be a matter of interest for Japanese business circles and can provide economic collaboration.
The Governor of Akita Prefecture Mr. Norihisa SATAKE stated that he visits Primorye for the first time because his term as the Governor has just started. Akita Prefecture has good transport infrastructure and prospective sea port. Mr. Norihisa SATAKE noted that he has no doubts about Primorye economic growth and necessity to develop relations between two regions.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Chinese city launches citizen feedback system
Local Government
Chinese city launches citizen feedback system
By Captain Wang | 23 October 2009
The Chinese municipal government of Dalian has launched a user evaluation and electronic monitoring system to gauge the popularity and usefulness of its citizen-facing web sites, and to respond faster to complaints from the public.
The system will serve as a one-stop response centre for citizens, who will be able to file a complaints directed at any government department on a single platform. Until now, coordination between government departments on citizen queries has been a weak spot in public service delivery, admits Liu Yan, a spokesperson for Dalian’s Municipal Government E-government Agency.
The new system will enable the authorities to detect citizen dissatisfaction quickly and respond accordingly. “Agencies will no longer be able to pass the buck,” she said.
The Municipal Labour and Social Security Bureau, the Municipal Personnel Bureau, the Chief Complaint Center, City Industrial and Commercial Bureau and the Municipal Education Bureau are among the agencies involved in project. The web site of the Local Taxation Bureau has been rated as the most popular, with 16 per cent of citizens “very satisfied” with its services.
The new system aims to reply to all citizen queries within 15 working days, and improve on satisfaction rates which, overall, are between 97 and 98 per cent.
“The number of letters we receive has always been high,” said Liu. “This reflects the level of interest by Dalian citizens in the performance of their government.”
Chinese city launches citizen feedback system
By Captain Wang | 23 October 2009
The Chinese municipal government of Dalian has launched a user evaluation and electronic monitoring system to gauge the popularity and usefulness of its citizen-facing web sites, and to respond faster to complaints from the public.
The system will serve as a one-stop response centre for citizens, who will be able to file a complaints directed at any government department on a single platform. Until now, coordination between government departments on citizen queries has been a weak spot in public service delivery, admits Liu Yan, a spokesperson for Dalian’s Municipal Government E-government Agency.
The new system will enable the authorities to detect citizen dissatisfaction quickly and respond accordingly. “Agencies will no longer be able to pass the buck,” she said.
The Municipal Labour and Social Security Bureau, the Municipal Personnel Bureau, the Chief Complaint Center, City Industrial and Commercial Bureau and the Municipal Education Bureau are among the agencies involved in project. The web site of the Local Taxation Bureau has been rated as the most popular, with 16 per cent of citizens “very satisfied” with its services.
The new system aims to reply to all citizen queries within 15 working days, and improve on satisfaction rates which, overall, are between 97 and 98 per cent.
“The number of letters we receive has always been high,” said Liu. “This reflects the level of interest by Dalian citizens in the performance of their government.”
Japan's New Okinawa Plan Could Delay Guam Buildup
Japan's New Okinawa Plan Could Delay Guam Buildup
News Analysis
Written by Jeff Marchesseault, Guam News Factor Staff Writer
Friday, 23 October 2009 11:31
11th Hour Counterproposal May Keep III Marines At Bay
By Jeff Marchesseault
GUAM - After telling the U.S. Secretary of Defense this week to back off his insistence that Japan must stick to a bilateral agreement to move a U.S. air base from point A to point B in Okinawa, Japan's new government has finally shown some encouraging signs they will do so -- but on new, undefined terms not outlined by standing accords.
The problem is this. Japan's terms could mean delaying a concomitant military buildup on Guam. Due to get underway as early as next summer, the U.S. Territory's $15 billion installation expansion is already on a tight timetable. Any substantively new plan in Okinawa is likely to directly impact Guam deadlines, because the Guam buildup is directly dependent on the air base relocation. The Department of Defense is adamant that all alternatives to the agreed relocation site within Okinawa have been exhausted and been found wanting.
Japan's new plan could be considerably different because of domestic concerns about damaging an environmental preserve in the originally designated re-basing site and because the new government can ill afford to lose face after fighting the intra-Okinawa air base transfer before and during its recent election campaign.
According to a Reuters report citing Japan's Sankei newspaper, Japan will inform U.S. President Barack Obama during his visit to Tokyo next month that it will come up with a new plan by the end of the year to relocate a U.S. air base within the southern island of Okinawa.
Right now, a 2006 bilateral accord designates coastal Camp Schwab in remote, northern Okinawa as the replacement site for operations now based at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in the bustling Okinawan city of Ginowan.
So far, new Japan Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama remains vague on his nation's new plan for Futenma relocation. And that is apt to keep the Pentagon on its toes strategically as it considers 'alternatives' that are as nebulous as Japan's new plan.
News Analysis
Written by Jeff Marchesseault, Guam News Factor Staff Writer
Friday, 23 October 2009 11:31
11th Hour Counterproposal May Keep III Marines At Bay
By Jeff Marchesseault
GUAM - After telling the U.S. Secretary of Defense this week to back off his insistence that Japan must stick to a bilateral agreement to move a U.S. air base from point A to point B in Okinawa, Japan's new government has finally shown some encouraging signs they will do so -- but on new, undefined terms not outlined by standing accords.
The problem is this. Japan's terms could mean delaying a concomitant military buildup on Guam. Due to get underway as early as next summer, the U.S. Territory's $15 billion installation expansion is already on a tight timetable. Any substantively new plan in Okinawa is likely to directly impact Guam deadlines, because the Guam buildup is directly dependent on the air base relocation. The Department of Defense is adamant that all alternatives to the agreed relocation site within Okinawa have been exhausted and been found wanting.
Japan's new plan could be considerably different because of domestic concerns about damaging an environmental preserve in the originally designated re-basing site and because the new government can ill afford to lose face after fighting the intra-Okinawa air base transfer before and during its recent election campaign.
According to a Reuters report citing Japan's Sankei newspaper, Japan will inform U.S. President Barack Obama during his visit to Tokyo next month that it will come up with a new plan by the end of the year to relocate a U.S. air base within the southern island of Okinawa.
Right now, a 2006 bilateral accord designates coastal Camp Schwab in remote, northern Okinawa as the replacement site for operations now based at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in the bustling Okinawan city of Ginowan.
So far, new Japan Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama remains vague on his nation's new plan for Futenma relocation. And that is apt to keep the Pentagon on its toes strategically as it considers 'alternatives' that are as nebulous as Japan's new plan.
US general says progress needed on Japan bases
US general says progress needed on Japan bases
By ERIC TALMADGE (AP) – 15 hours ago
TOKYO — Japan must act urgently to make progress on a base relocation issue if Washington's realignment of its 47,000 troops in this country is to move forward on time, the chairman of the U.S. joint chiefs of staff said Friday.
Adm. Mike Mullen said Japan must decide on the relocation of a major U.S. Marine base on the southern island of Okinawa "as soon as possible." He added that the new Japanese government's decision to re-examine an existing agreement could derail the timing of the realignment.
U.S. and Japanese officials agreed three years ago to shift 8,000 Marines on Okinawa to the U.S. territory of Guam by 2014. But the plan, which includes the relocation of the Futenma airfield, has met local resistance and become a sticking point between the allies ahead of a visit by President Barack Obama next month.
"We're barely on track with what was laid out in 2006," Mullen told reporters. "When you start falling behind, you don't fall behind by days, you start falling behind exponentially."
Mullen added that "from a purely military perspective, it is very important that we move ahead with previous agreements."
"I'm hopeful that the new government will make a decision with respect to support for that as soon as possible," he said. "It's critical. Futenma really unlocks the door to the rest of the realignment."
Japanese new government has shown increasing reluctance to accept the agreement as it stands, however.
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who took office last month, has said he wants to review the agreement, which was made with Japan's previous conservative leaders, and his top spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano, on Thursday said he does not expect the Futenma issue to be settled before Obama's visit from Nov. 12-13.
While the existing plan would lighten Okinawa's share of hosting more than half of the U.S. troops in Japan, it has met resistance from opponents who want the base closed completely and not replaced, or moved off Okinawa altogether.
The opposition has stalled efforts to settle on a final plan for where the base should be relocated, although the Camp Schwab area, which is in a less crowded part of Okinawa, remains the most likely candidate.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
By ERIC TALMADGE (AP) – 15 hours ago
TOKYO — Japan must act urgently to make progress on a base relocation issue if Washington's realignment of its 47,000 troops in this country is to move forward on time, the chairman of the U.S. joint chiefs of staff said Friday.
Adm. Mike Mullen said Japan must decide on the relocation of a major U.S. Marine base on the southern island of Okinawa "as soon as possible." He added that the new Japanese government's decision to re-examine an existing agreement could derail the timing of the realignment.
U.S. and Japanese officials agreed three years ago to shift 8,000 Marines on Okinawa to the U.S. territory of Guam by 2014. But the plan, which includes the relocation of the Futenma airfield, has met local resistance and become a sticking point between the allies ahead of a visit by President Barack Obama next month.
"We're barely on track with what was laid out in 2006," Mullen told reporters. "When you start falling behind, you don't fall behind by days, you start falling behind exponentially."
Mullen added that "from a purely military perspective, it is very important that we move ahead with previous agreements."
"I'm hopeful that the new government will make a decision with respect to support for that as soon as possible," he said. "It's critical. Futenma really unlocks the door to the rest of the realignment."
Japanese new government has shown increasing reluctance to accept the agreement as it stands, however.
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who took office last month, has said he wants to review the agreement, which was made with Japan's previous conservative leaders, and his top spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano, on Thursday said he does not expect the Futenma issue to be settled before Obama's visit from Nov. 12-13.
While the existing plan would lighten Okinawa's share of hosting more than half of the U.S. troops in Japan, it has met resistance from opponents who want the base closed completely and not replaced, or moved off Okinawa altogether.
The opposition has stalled efforts to settle on a final plan for where the base should be relocated, although the Camp Schwab area, which is in a less crowded part of Okinawa, remains the most likely candidate.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Japan FM: US Marine base should stay on Okinawa
TOKYO — Japan's foreign minister says a major U.S. Marine base set for relocation must stay on the southern Japan island of Okinawa.
Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said Friday that the Marine airfield in Futenma, a crowded city on Okinawa, should be relocated to another part of the island and not moved elsewhere in Japan or overseas, as some of his party's leadership had suggested.
The relocation of the base, already been agreed to under previous administrations in Tokyo, had become a sticky issue between Washington and Japan's newly elected government because of local opposition to the move.
Okada's statement Friday was the new government's clearest to date that it will accept the move of the base to another location on Okinawa.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said Friday that the Marine airfield in Futenma, a crowded city on Okinawa, should be relocated to another part of the island and not moved elsewhere in Japan or overseas, as some of his party's leadership had suggested.
The relocation of the base, already been agreed to under previous administrations in Tokyo, had become a sticky issue between Washington and Japan's newly elected government because of local opposition to the move.
Okada's statement Friday was the new government's clearest to date that it will accept the move of the base to another location on Okinawa.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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