OPPS held a side event for the 10th Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, entitled “Strengthening Pacific Bonds through Promoting Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) in Pacific Island Countries (PIC),” at The Prince Park Tower Tokyo on the afternoon of July 17th. This event is co-hosted by the Pacific Water and Wastewater Association (PWWA) and the French Embassy in Japan. Governments and PWWA officials and related companies from Pacific island countries and regions visited Japan, and together with representatives from the Japanese government and related organizations, it was an international conference attended by approximately 70 people. The Japanese government sent a video message from Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, which was screened at the beginning of the event. The PM says, the Japanese government adopted the “Policy for Strengthening New Partnerships with Countries in the Global South,” where PPP is positioned as a form of support for the first time. After the conference, an MoU was signed between OPPS and PWWA, in the presence of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and the French Embassy. (Photo ©aya watada) Furthermore, in the morning of the following day, July 18th, a kick-off meeting was held with PWWA following the MoU signing. After confirming future information sharing and cooperation between the two parties, OPPS received an invitation from PWWA to an international conference to be held in September. OPPS will continue to build even stronger cooperative relationships in the future, with the aim of promoting public-private partnerships in the water supply and sewerage sector in Pacific island countries and regions. * This side event was held under the certification of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a commemorative event of PALM10.