News & Update

　At the 5th International PPP Forum held from April 22 to 26 hosted by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), Chodai Co., Ltd. through the submission of their project entitled "Regional Development Programme in Caraga, Mindanao, Republic of the Philippines" which started in 2011, was selected as one of the five finalists for the "Building Back Better" infrastructure awards out of the 66 PPP projects that were submitted from the 25 participating countries all over the world. At the forum, Chodai made a presentation about the project and won the honorable 2nd award in the world through the 881 votes it gathered from the participating countries and PPP experts.

　In response to UNECE developing a methodology for evaluating People-First PPPs which contribute to the goals of "Building Back Better" and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which are required in the post-Corona era, a two-month competition was held from the end of February to the end of April to evaluate the best practices among actual projects that could be deployed and disseminated to other regions and sectors. The application process was held from the end of February to the end of March. It required the submission of a self-assessment form according to UNECE's newly developed People First PPP evaluation indicators as well as a video introducing the project. Despite the short application period, a large number of applications were received, exactly 66 projects from 25 countries all over the world. 

　The evaluation of the projects was first narrowed down to 31 projects through a primary screening by the UNECE juries. Afterward, five projects were selected by the juries as the finalists for being the Best-Practice based on their economic impact, impact on regional development, significance in the "Building Back Better" indicators, degree of contribution to the SDGs, and submitted self-assessment forms and introductory videos. Among these projects, the Regional Development Programme in Caraga, Mindanao island, the Philippines, which Chodai has been working on since 2011, was the only project from Japan to be selected. In the Asian region, there were only two projects selected (the other was in China).

　The final selection was made on April 22 (15:00-17:00 Geneva time / 22:00-24:00 Japan time) in a session entitled "Building Back Better Infrastructure Awards" at the 5th International PPP Forum, which was held in a web format from April 22 to 26 at the Palais des Nations, the United Nations European Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The session was moderated by Ms. Elizabeth Turk, Director of UNECE.

　In front of an audience of PPP experts from UNECE member countries and around the world, a video entitled "Chodai's People-first PPP" was introduced. Afterward, Mr. Jett Tommy P. Tolentino, Assistant Manager in Global Business Promotion Division, International Department, took the stage and gave a 5-minute presentation on how the project aligns with the "Building Back Better" indicators and its contribution to achieving the SDGs.

　After the presentations were made by the five finalists, the forum participants voted (from 17:00 to 18:00 Geneva time / from 24:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. Japan time) to select the winner and the runner-up. As a result, a total of 881 votes were gathered and our application entitled  "Regional Development Programme in Caraga, Mindanao, Republic of the Philippines" was ranked second in the world. In 2017, we were also selected as one of the 10 best projects from around the world at the International PPP Forum held by UNECE, and this is the second time we have been selected.

　Our application came in second to "Fruit and Vegetable Market Project in Piauí, Brazil" and tied in second place with the "Tenerife Tram Project in Tenerife, Spain. 

　Since 2011, we have been working together with our local partners to realize the "Regional Development Programme in Caraga, Mindanao, Philippines" which is the subject of this year's award. We have continued to promote low-carbon economic development activities in the region while utilizing most of its local resources. With the recent rapid increase in decarbonization activities worldwide, we will continue to promote our activities to further improve the attractiveness of the region by accelerating the business activities which we have been conducting.

　In addition, based on the same concept in Southeast Asia and other Asian countries, we will continue to contribute to the development of sustainable businesses that contribute to environmental improvement, measures against global warming, and a resource-recycling society.

■Reference: 

　Despite the fact that the voting took place only one hour after the presentations were made, a total of 881 votes were cast. Subsequently, 3 projects were announced as winners including our submission entitled "Regional Development Programme in Caraga, Mindanao, Republic of the Philippines" which came in second to "Fruit and Vegetable Market Project in Piauí, Brazil" and tied with "Tenerife Tram Project in Tenerife, Spain. The following is the commentary from the awarding ceremony.

　Please refer to the following (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe webpage) for the 31 projects screened by UNECE's juries out of a total of 66 applications.

　The five projects selected by the juries as the finalists for the" Building Back Better" infrastructure award: