May 30 & June 1, 2018
Tokyo Big Sight, Japan

The International Fire Chiefs’ Association of Asia (IFCAA) held its 30th General Conference on May 31 (Thu.) and June 1 (Fri.), 2018 in the International Conference Room on the seventh floor of the Conference Tower of Tokyo Big Sight.
The Joint Opening Ceremony for the IFCAA 30th General Conference and the 70th General Conference of the Fire Chiefs’ Association of Japan (FCAJ) took place at 10:30 a.m. on May 31 (Thu.), 2018 in the International Conference Room on the seventh floor of the Conference Tower of Tokyo Big Sight. The ceremony attracted about 600 people from 15 countries and two areas including Asian and Oceanian fire chiefs and officers as IFCAA members and delegates from other related bodies.
IFCAA Director Kiyotaka Mannen, Chief of the Sapporo City Fire Department, started off the opening ceremony with a word of declaration. It was followed by the overall silent prayer for the repose of the soul of deceased firefighters; the greetings by Ms. Yuriko Koike, Governor of Tokyo on behalf of the conference host; and the greetings by IFCAA President Kenichi Murakami. At the IFCAA Commendation, President Murakami granted a commemorative plaque to IFCAA Vice President Eric Yap Wee Teck, Commissioner of the Singapore Civil Defence Force, for his long-year meritorious service. Congratulatory speeches were delivered by four honored guests: Commissioner Hiroshi Inayama of the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, President Toshifumi Akimoto of the Japan Firefighters Association, Chairperson Daisuke Ozaki of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, and President Hitoshi Okiyama of the Tokyo Metropolitan Volunteer Fire Corps. After the introduction of other guests and the announcement of congratulatory messages, the opening ceremony was concluded.

Opening Ceremony

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  Chief Mannen, IFCAA Director
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  Governor Koike, Tokyo
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  IFCAA President Murakami
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  IFCAA Commendation

The Regular Session, chaired by President Murakami, was held after the opening ceremony in the same place at 11:30 a.m. IFCAA Secretary General Keizo Banno then announced a new IFCAA membership: two active and two associate members from the Philippines, two active members from Taiwan and one active member from Viet Nam. Then the following five proposals were deliberated over.

PROPOSALS
　1. The Achievements and Financial Results in the 29th Fiscal Year (2016 & 2017)
　2. The Projects and Budget Plans in the 30th Fiscal Year (2018 & 2019)
　3. Creating a Disaster Information Framework
　4. Reelection of Officers
　5. The 31st General Conference

Proposals 1-2 were explained by IFCAA Secretary General Bannno and agreed upon. Proposal 3 brought in by IFCAA Director Seiichi Kimata, Chief of the Nagoya City Fire Department was adopted. Regarding Proposal 4, IFCAA Secretary General Banno proposed that President should be from Japan with Vice presidents from Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore, and that Mr. Doan Viet Manh, Director General of the Vietnam Fire and Rescue Police Department should be appointed as the IFCAA Director and other active directors should keep their directorate. Then, Proposal 4 was approved. Proposal 5 was unanimously decided to hold the 31st General Conference in Taiwan in 2020. On behalf the expected host, IFCAA Director Chen Wen-Long, Director General of the National Fire Agency of the Ministry of the Interior, Taiwan delivered a conference host message.

Regular Session

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  IFCAA Secretary General Bannno
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  Chief Kimata, IFCAA Director
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  Director General Chen,
  National Fire Agency, Taiwan

After lunch, at 1:10 p.m. the host-organized excursion was given for overseas IFCAA members to see and learn in Tokyo. Meanwhile, Japanese IFCAA members attended the 70th FCAJ General Conference at 1:10 p.m.

Excursion

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On June 1 (Fri.), the IFCAA International Rescue Team Joint Drill was given in the Outdoor Exhibition Area at 10:00 a.m. and was followed by the visit to the Tokyo International Fire and Safety Exhibition 2018. In the meantime, the President, the Vice Presidents and some Directors of IFCAA attended the IFCAA - FCAJ Joint Press Conference in Room 608 on the sixth floor at 11:00 a.m.

IFCAA International Rescue Team Joint Drill

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Press Conference

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After lunch, the IFCAA Presentation was held at 2:10 p.m. in the International Conference Room with three speakers: Mr. Rhys Jones (Chief Executive/ Lieutenant General, Fire and Emergency New Zealand), Mr. Dedy Simhi (Commissioner/ Lieutenant General, Israel Fire and Rescue Authority), and Mr. Tetsuhiro Nishioka (Chief, Kumamoto City Fire Service Bureau, Japan).
After all presentations, President Murakami granted mementos to the three speakers.

IFCAA Presentation

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  Chief Executive Rhys Jones
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  Commissioner Dedy Simhi
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  Chief Tetsuhiro Nishioka

After a break, the closing ceremony for the IFCAA - FCAJ Joint General Conferences was held in the same place at 4:10 p.m. First, the 30th Conference outcome was announced in the form of the IFCAA Declaration by IFCAA Vice President LI Kin-yat, Daryl, Director of the Hong Kong Fire Services Department. After that, President Murakami extended his greeting. At the IFCAA Conference Host Plate Handover ceremony for the 2020 IFCAA Conference, President Murakami handed over the IFCAA commemorative plate to IFCAA Director Chen Wen-Long, Director General of the National Fire Agency of the Ministry of the Interior, Taiwan as the 2020 Conference host. Finally, IFCAA Director Yusuke Takai, Fire Chief of the Kochi City Fire Department, declared the closing, and the two-day General Conference ended up with a huge success.

IFCAA Declaration, Tokyo Framework, Disasters in the past (PDF File)

Closing Ceremony

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  IFCAA Declaration
  Director LI Kin-yat, Daryl
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  Host Plate
  From Tokyo to Taiwan
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  Chief Yusuke Takai

Participation in the 30th IFCAA General Conference

About 600 participants (At the Opening Ceremony on May 31) 15 countries and 2 regions
Australia, Bangladesh (Only Joint Drill), Brunei Darussalam, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Korea, Malaysia (Only Joint Drill), Mongolia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam

IFCAA Presentation

Other Related Events

○Directors’ Meeting
On May 30 (Wed.), the IFCAA Directors’ Meeting was held at 4:30 p.m. in Room 607 and 608 on the sixth floor as the preliminary session for the General Conference to deliberate on the proposals for the Regular Session. Two active and two associate members from the Philippines, two active members from Taiwan and one active member from Viet Nam were newly welcomed in. In addition, the IFCAA commendation was approved for two persons: Commissioner Eric Yap Wee Teck of the Singapore Civil Defence Force and Dato’ Sri Hj. Wan Mohd Nor Bin Hj. Ibrahim, the previous Director General of the Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia.

○IFCAA International Rescue Team Joint Drill
On June 1 (Fri.), the International Rescue Team Joint Drill was given as the third joint rescue demonstration in IFCAA’s history in the Outdoor Exhibition Area at 10:00 a.m. Rescue teams participated in this drill under the scenario of a large-scale earthquake and fires, demonstrating their technology: “Shoring” (stabilizing a crashed house in an emergency), “Breaching” (making access on the wall), “CSR” (rescue in a confined area), and others. Great performance was shown by the Tokyo Fire Department rescue team and the 15 rescue personnel from eight IFCAA member fire and emergency organizations.
The International Rescue Skills Workshop was held by the Tokyo Fire Department on May 31 (Thu.) and June 1 (Fri.). There, overseas rescue personnel were instructed in urban search and rescue method.

〈International Participants from IFCAA member countries and areas〉
① Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence
② Hong Kong Fire Services Department
③ Jakarta Fire and Rescue Department, Indonesia
④ Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia
⑤ National Emergency Management Agency, Mongolia
⑥ Singapore Civil Defence Force
⑦ National Fire Agency, Ministry of the Interior, Taiwan
⑧ Vietnam Fire and Rescue Police Department, Ministry of Public Security

○Tokyo International Fire and Safety Exhibition 2018
From May 31 (Thu.) to June 4 (Sun.), the Tokyo International Fire and Safety Exhibition 2018, hosted by the Tokyo Fire Department and Tokyo Big Sight, was held in the East Halls 5-7 and the Outdoor Exhibition Area. This four-day event attracted 179,428 visitors.

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