ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Keita Ishii, President & COO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced today that it has concluded a basic agreement with the municipal government of Kuwana City in Mie regarding the Swimming Pool Development and Operation Project for Kuwana City Sports Park. By working on and regarding this project as the second public-private project for development of public facilities, ITOCHU will continue to promote its regional revitalization business.

Today, local governments face an increasing need to address many different regional issues such as regional revitalization, the promotion of the health of residents and the development and improvement of evacuation centers. At the same time, many local municipal governments have structural problems such as budget shortfalls and insufficient labor and expertise. To solve these problems, ITOCHU has advanced public facility development projects, starting with the Shibata Town Multi-purpose Gymnasium Development Project in Miyagi prefecture* which the company became involved in in 2022.

The goal of the Swimming Pool Development and Operation Project for Kuwana City Sports Park is to develop an all-weather swimming pool so that the swimming classes can be concentrated in a single location to reduce municipal elementary and junior high schools’ swimming pool maintenance expenses and reducing the burdens on swimming class teachers using a public-private partnership building lease method. The building lease system is new and enables all of the project partners to play their individual roles, from the planning and design necessary for the development of facilities to the construction, maintenance operation and ownership of the facilities.

A characteristic of the swimming pool is its multifunctionality as it can be used for both school classes and official swim meets, and another characteristic is convenience, as the use of the facility can be shared with the users of the neighboring soccer field. The swimming pool facility incorporates disaster response features enabling it to be used as an evacuation center. The people of Kuwana City can use the facility safely and with peace of mind in many different situations. The swimming pool will be maintained in cooperation with local businesses with the goal of continuing to provide high-quality public services rooted in the local community.

ITOCHU seeks to strengthen its value chain in the construction and realty sector, and considers public facility development projects as part of these efforts. To revitalize local communities and increase regional disaster response capabilities, we will continue to promote public facility development projects with a market-in mindset, utilizing the ITOCHU Group’s comprehensive capabilities.