Achieving TDLC’s vision of strengthening World Bank clients’ capacity to foster sustainable and livable cities relies heavily on strong collaboration with the city and the private sector. The private sector plays a critical role in harnessing innovation and solutions to advance livability in cities.
TDLC was invited to make a presentation to members of the Asia PPP Promotion Council (APPC), an industry platform comprising of Japanese consulting companies, trading companies, and other companies working in infrastructure development. Shoko Tawara, Co-Task Team Lead of the World Bank Tokyo Development Learning Center (TDLC), presented an overview of TDLC’s activities and achievements. She emphasized the critical role of private sector expertise and innovation in overcoming urban challenges in developing countries. The presentation focused on tangible ways that the private sector can be involved in TDLC activities.
Using case studies such as Fukuoka City’s water-saving urban development and Toyama City’s canal redevelopment, the presentation highlighted the importance of engaging private companies in World Bank projects through TDLC’s Technical Deep Dives (TDDs) and operational support programs. These initiatives demonstrate how private sector collaboration can contribute significantly to sustainable urban development.
Following the presentation, many questions were raised by participants about how the private sector can participate, successful project examples, and the wider impacts of TDLC initiatives.
TDLC aims to have greater involvement from the private sector in its activities, in order to promote both public and private sector solutions to address urban challenges speed up efforts to promote sustainable development worldwide.