Secretary General enforces the Metropolis message of ‘Capacity Building and Program Management’ among South Asian Cities

Metropolis Training and Global Capacity Building programs were identified as one of the key global agenda during the Metropolis Strategic meeting in Barcelona. During the Barcelona Strategic Meeting, the Metropolis executive board, member cities, associate organisations and key knowledge partners emphasised on the need of customised training programs in strategic regions and cities to further expand the learning networks and knowledge platform of Metropolis members and stakeholders.

Among others Berlin, WHO Kobe, Paris, Barcelona, Mashhad and Medellin shared compelling examples of Training on urban management and sustainability. The Metropolis Secretariat has drawn a ‘Training and Capacity Building’ global agenda to visit and engage with strategic partners in Guangzhou, Chengdu, New Delhi, Buenos Aires, Johannesburg, Medellin, Kobe, MITI Headquarter in Seoul and MITI regional centres.       

Taking this message forward, the Secretary General Mr Alain LeSaux and delegation of Metropolis visited the National Institute of Urban Affairs, New Delhi to meet with the key stakeholders and international development agencies, representing the learning and capacity building networks in South Asia.  The Secretary General provided an update to NIUA president Mr Anil Baijal, IAS and director Prof Jagan Shah on Metropolis’s global agenda on training and capacity building programs. NIUA is Metropolis’s principal knowledge partner in South Asia and currently working on establishing Metropolis institutional training programs in conjunction with partners like Cities Alliance, Institute Francais, GIZ, ADB, MoUD and state government agencies. The Secretary General has successful discussions with NIUA on establishment of Metropolis International Training Institute antenna for South Asia with focus on Smart Cities and Municipal finance.

The Secretary General also visited the offices of Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (DMICDC) and attended a project presentation from the CEO and Managing Director, Mr Amitabh Kant, IAS and the executive team. The DMICDC is planning to develop seven smart cities along the Delhi Mumbai industrial corridor during the first phase of the project. DMIC project is estimated over $100 billion and partly funded by the Government of Japan. Metropolis discussed the capacity building opportunities for the associated state governments through member cities like Barcelona, Paris and MITI networks. DMIC attended Smart City World Congress in Barcelona during 2013 and met with the Metropolis Secretariat staff.