Tokyo Visitor learns more about Public-Private Partnerships

Dr. Mark Smith met with Mr. Shogo Miyamoto, a visiting officer of Tokyo Metropolitan Government, on May 5th, 2011. Dr. Smith discussed his research and activity in disaster management with Mr. Miyamoto in Baton Rouge. Mr. Miyamoto was very interested in the Louisiana Business Emergency Operations Center's activities based on public private partnerships. In Japan, that kind of activity has not been widespread so far. He was interested in the role of each level of government (federal , state and city ) in the event of disaster. Mr. Miyamoto is studying Public Policy and English at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. He is researching the policy lessons for economic recovery from disasters in the US and how to encourage small business. The results of his research will, hopefully, help Tokyo to recover from the recent disaster. They toured Baton Rouge and the Basin and discussed the lessons that Louisiana has learned from its recent natural disasters.