Ichio Motono, a Senior Executive Director at Yokohama Port Corporation and IAPH Vice President for the Asia 1 region, made his first appearance at the IAPH Harbor Café on January 28, 2026.

During the IAPH Harbor Café, Mr. Jens Meier, CEO of the Hamburg Port Authority and President of IAPH, proposed four priority policies that IAPH will focus on over the next two years:

1. Accelerating digitalization and smart port infrastructure　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　2. Fostering sustainable and climate-neutral port development　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　3. Strengthening resilience and crisis resistance　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　4. Investing in expertise across all ages plus attracting young talent to future-proof the industry

Following this, the Vice Presidents of each region exchanged views on specific methods for implementing these initiatives.

Vice President Motono, representing the Asia 1 region, expressed his full support for the four policies. Regarding the specific way forward, he emphasized the importance of 1) developing best practices on digitalization of individual ports and at the national level, 2) coordinating energy policies on creating carbon-neutral ports of each country, 3) introducing and disseminating design standards for port facilities that take into the account impacts of global warming, and 4) analyzing cases of advanced ports that operate with a business mindset when investing in human resources.