June 21 & 22, 2012
Sapporo Convention Center (SORA), Japan

Opening Ceremony
Mayor Ueda,
Sapporo

President Kitamura, IFCAA

IFCAA Commendation
Deputy Director General AlMekrad
CFO SILAS

The International Fire Chiefs' Association of Asia (IFCAA) held its 27th General Conference on June 21 (Thu.) and 22 (Fri.), 2012 in the Sapporo Convention Center (SORA) of Japan. Two conferences, namely the IFCAA General Conference and the 64th General Conference of the Fire Chiefs' Association of Japan (FCAJ), were declared open at 10:00 a.m. in SORA's 1F main hall.　The opening declaration was followed by the overall silent prayer for the repose of lost firefighters' soul, the conference host city greetings by Sapporo City Mayor Fumio Ueda, and IFCAA President Yoshio Kitamura's greetings. At the IFCAA Commendation, President Kitamura granted commemorative plaques to two IFCAA directors for their long-year meritorious service－namely, Chief Fire Officer Isaac Keleme SILAS of the Papua New Guinea Fire Service and Director General Jasem AlMansouri of the Kuwait Fire Service Directorate (with Deputy Director General Khaled AlMekrad acting for Director General this time). The Commendation was followed by the FCAJ Commendation, the congratulatory speeches by four special guests (i.e., Director General Nobuyasu Kubo, Fire and Disaster Management Agency, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC); Executive Coordinator for Crisis Management Tatsuo Shibata acting for the Governor of Hokkaido; Vice President Akio Ishida acting for Japan Firefighters Association President; and Chairman Yosuke Mikami, Sapporo City Assembly), and the introduction of other guests. The opening ceremony was concluded with the announcement of the congratulatory messages delivered.

The Regular Session was held after the opening ceremony in the same place at 11:50 a.m. It was chaired by Mr. Toshiharu Endo (Sapporo Fire Bureau Director General and host city IFCAA director). First, IFCAA Secretary General Shuji Sakai announced a new IFCAA membership: five active and one associate members from the Philippines. The announcement was followed by the deliberations on the six proposals for the Regular Session.

Proposals for the Regular Session
1. Achievement in the 26th Fiscal Year (2010～2011）
2. Financial Results in the 26th Fiscal Year（2010～2011）
3. Projects in the 27th Fiscal Year（2012～2013）
4. Budget Plans in the 27th Fiscal Year（2012～2013）
5. Change for the Better: Rescue Teams' On-Scene Action and International Teamwork
6. The 28th General Conference

Proposals 1-4 were explained by the Secretariat and agreed upon. Proposal 5 was handled by Mr. Yoshinobu Senbuku, Fire Chief, Osaka Municipal Fire Department and was eventually adopted. In response to Proposal 6, it was unanimously decided to hold the 28th General Conference in Singapore in 2014. Then, Commissioner Eric Yap Wee Teck of the Singapore Civil Defence Force, also as an IFCAA Vice President, extended his greetings on behalf of the 28th conference host city.

Regular Session

• 
  Secretary General Sakai
• 
  
• 
  Fire Chief Senbuku, Osaka Municipal FD

After lunch, the conference host-organized excursion was given at 1:15 p.m. for foreign IFCAA members to see and learn about Sapporo. Meanwhile, Japanese IFCAA members attended the 64th FCAJ General Conference at 2:00 p.m.

IFCAA Presentation I Director Tamotsu Sato
Fire Defense & Control Dept. Sapporo Fire Bureau
Comm. Eric Yap
Singapore Civil Defence Force
Director Chan Chor-kam
Hong Kong Fire Services Dept.

On June 22 (Fri.), the IFCAA Presentation I was held at 9:20 a.m. in SORA's 1F Conference Hall with three speakers: Fire Defense & Control Department Director Tamotsu Sato of the Sapporo Fire Bureau, Commissioner Eric Yap Wee Teck of the Singapore Civil Defence Force, and Director Chan Chor-kam Andy of the Hong Kong Fire Services Department.

The IFCAA 2012 Sapporo International Fire & Safety Exhibition was grandly declared open at 10:30 a.m. at SORA's 1F lobby. The ribbon-cutting opening ceremony, attended by IFCAA President, Vice Presidents and others, was then followed by an exhibition venue tour.
The IFCAA 2012 International Rescue Team Joint Training Drill was then given, after the exhibition tour, in the outdoor ground parking area.

IFCAA Presentation II Chief Shigeru Tanabe
Disaster Suppression Dept. Sendai City Fire Bureau Comm. Greg Mullins
Fire & Rescue NSW
Chief Yoshiaki Ishii
Fire Suppression Div. Tokyo Fire Department

After lunch, the IFCAA Presentation II was held at 2:00 p.m. in SORA's 1F Conference Hall with three speakers: Disaster Suppression Department Chief Shigeru Tanabe of the Sendai City Fire Bureau of Japan, Commissioner Greg Mullins of the Fire & Rescue New South Wales of Australia, and Fire Suppression Division Chief Yoshiaki Ishii of the Tokyo Fire Department.
Lastly, President Kitamura presented the six speakers with presentation mementos.

After a break, the closing ceremony for the IFCAA General Conference was held in the same place at 3:30 p.m. First, on behalf of the conference host city, Sapporo Fire Bureau Director General Toshiharu Endo gave his greetings. Then, the 27th Conference outcome was announced in the form of the IFCAA Declaration by IFCAA Vice President Dato' Wan Mohammed Nor Bin Ibrahim, Director General of the Malaysia Fire and Rescue Department, and President Kitamura extended his greetings. Last of all, at the IFCAA conference host plate handover, the plate was returned from Director General Endo to President Kitamura, and it was then handed over to Singapore Civil Defence Force Commissioner Eric Yap Wee Teck as the 2014 Conference host. The two-day IFCAA conference was over as a remarkable success.

Closing Ceremony

•  
   
  
  Mr. Toshiharu Endo
  Director General, Sapporo Fire Bureau
• IFCAA Declaration
   
  
  IFCAA Vice President Dato' Wan Director General, Fire & Rescue Dept., Malaysia
• IFCAA Conference Host Plate Handover
  

Press Conference

At 4:30 p.m., the IFCAA-FCAJ joint press conference was held in SORA's 1F Room 108 with President, Vice Presidents and Directors attending.

General Conference Participation

・528 participants（June 22 opening ceremony）
・Countries and Areas
○ IFCAA members（14 countries & 2 areas）
Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Hong Kong, Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. ○ Other（1 country）
France

IFCAA Presentation

Other Events

○ Directors' Meeting
At 9:00 a.m. on June 21 (Thu.), the Directors' Meeting was held in SORA's 2F Room 204 as the preliminary meeting for the General Conference to deliberate on the proposals for the Regular Session. Also, the Meeting agreed upon the entry of new members to IFCAA (i.e., five active and one associate members from the Philippines) and the granting of the IFCAA Meritorious Service Award to two IFCAA directors (i.e., Kuwait Fire Service Directorate Director General and Papua New Guinea Fire Service Chief Fire Officer).

○ IFCAA 2012 Sapporo International Fire & Safety Exhibition
The IFCAA 2012 Sapporo Executive Committee held the IFCAA 2012 International Fire & Safety Exhibition on June 22 (Fri.) and 23 (Sat.) in SORA's 1F main hall and outdoors. The two-day event with 75 domestic companies attracted 13,639 visitors.

○ IFCAA2012 International Rescue Team Joint Training Drill
At 11:00 a.m. on June 22 (Fri.), an international rescue team joint drill－exactly the first joint rescue demonstration in IFCAA's history－was given in SORA's outdoor parking area. In response to a “devastating Hokkaido quake,” great mobility was shown by the Sapporo Fire Bureau, Hokkaido's emergency response teams, and six IFCAA-member fire and emergency departments (two persons from each, namely 12 foreign rescuers).
（International participants）
Tehran Safety Services and Fire Fighting Organization
National Emergency Management Agency, Korea
Malaysia Fire and Rescue Department
National Emergency Management Agency, Mongolia
Singapore Civil Defence Force
National Fire Agency of the Ministry of the Interior, Taiwan