Japan – Yokohama, Japan’s second-largest city offers expertise in areas such as water supply, waste management, logistics, and technical knowledge transfer—sectors, align closely with Liberia’s development needs under the ARREST Agenda.
On Thursday, August 21 2025, President Joseph Nyuma Boaka Sr. Met with the Mayor of Yokohama Takeharu Yamanaka and highlighted opportunities for deepening collaboration and city-to-city partnerships between Liberia’s cities and Yokohama.
Also speaking during the exchange, President Boakai extended an invitation to Mayor Yamanaka to visit Liberia, highlighting the importance of personal engagement in strengthening bilateral ties.
Mayor Yamanaka accepted the invite and expressed interest in key areas such as Water supply systems, aimed at enhancing access to clean water, Waste management where both cities might exchange practices in sorting, recycling, and sustainable urban hygiene.
Other includes, Port operations, leveraging Yokohama’s advanced infrastructure experience to support Liberian maritime and trade enhancements and Technical knowledge involving expertise exchange to build local capacity in infrastructure, administration, and service delivery.
Mayor Yamanaka added that his interest is part of Yokohama’s commitment to engaging proactively with African leaders, underscoring that this approach aligns with the city’s philosophy of fostering inclusive, practical, and mutually beneficial international relationships particularly at the subnational and grassroots levels.
President Boakai, in turn, expressed his desire for Yokohama’s leaders to be introduced to Liberia’s major cities, including the capital, Monrovia, facilitating city-level dialogues and fostering people-to-people engagement.
Photo credit: Executive Mansion
