On October 20, Fukuda & Partners, Prologis, Yamato Transport, NTT East, and Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture, held a signing ceremony for an "Agreement on Support for Evacuees, Cooperation with Designated Evacuation Centers, and Emergency Transportation of Supplies, etc." at the newly completed "Fukushima Koriyama LL Town" in Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture.
<Scenes from the agreement signing ceremony>
"Fukushima Koriyama LL Town" is a wide-area logistics and disaster prevention hub developed by Fukuda & Partners and Prologis, and this time, Building B (Town Building), the first building in the town, has been completed.
The agreement was concluded to realize regional disaster prevention through industry-academia collaboration, by integrating "logistics facilities that support people's lives" during peacetime with "disaster prevention functions that protect people's lives" during disasters.
<President Fukuda>
At the signing ceremony, Tetsuya Fukuda, president of Fukuda & Partners, stated, "The Great East Japan Earthquake made us acutely aware of how much delivering goods can contribute to saving lives." He then emphasized that Koriyama is not only a junction for multiple high-standard roads, but also close to ports and airports, providing excellent access not only to eastern Japan but to a wider area.
Given its location as a suitable base for wide-area disaster prevention cooperation, the company revealed that it had consulted with Prologis Chairman and CEO Mikio Yamada regarding the establishment of a collaborative system. It also expressed the view that "the presence of Yamato Transport will instill a sense of purpose, and having NTT East join the agreement will allow them to provide information and establish a system for transporting goods appropriately."
<Chairman and CEO Yamada>
Prologis Chairman and CEO, Mikio Yamada, who is co-developing the multi-tenant logistics facility "Prologis Park Koriyama 1" within LL Town, introduced the company's commitment to "coexistence with local communities" and the agreements it has signed with 14 municipalities nationwide regarding disaster prevention and other matters.
Furthermore, they announced that construction of "Prologis Park Koriyama 2" will begin within LL Town in February of next year, and outlined their vision of inviting new tenant companies to participate in the agreement and developing it into a model case for "logistics plus something extra."
<President Nagao>
Yutaka Nagao, president of Yamato Holdings, the holding company of Yamato Transport , which will open the "Koriyama Logistics Center" in Town Building B, explained that the Takkyubin (parcel delivery service), which will celebrate its 50th anniversary next year, has had a base in Koriyama since the start of its service, and currently operates parcel delivery services in Koriyama City with terminals and eight sales offices and approximately 750 staff members. He then indicated that the relocation of the Takkyubin Fukushima base and the Fukushima/Koriyama main branch to LL Town in one year will connect local disaster prevention with the nationwide network functions of Takkyubin.
<Mayor Shiine>
Koriyama City Mayor Takeo Shiine stated in his address that Koriyama City has been working on disaster prevention and mitigation efforts in light of the effects of the Great East Japan Earthquake and typhoons, and that he is very encouraged and grateful for this agreement.
<Kumagai, Vice President>
NTT East Japan's Vice President, Toshiaki Kumagai, explained that the company established a disaster prevention research institute in April to accumulate knowledge on disaster prevention and mitigation, and stated, "We will incorporate the knowledge gained at the institute into our efforts in Koriyama."
