In January 2011, Yokohama City began implementing the Y-PORT (Yokohama Partnership of Resources and Technology) Project, in hopes to support businesses in their development efforts abroad as well as emerging nations in resolving urban development issues. This project, promoting international technical cooperation with Asia’s developing nations through public-private partnerships that utilize the City’s resources and technology, has been implemented in such cities as Cebu (The Philippines), Da Nang (Vietnam), and Bangkok (Thailand).

In order to further the achievements of this project, on 25 May 2015, the City established the Y-PORT Center, with the cooperation of the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), the CITYNET Yokohama Project Office, and local companies. The Y-PORT Center, a platform consisting of cities, international agencies, and private firms interested in providing technical development and assistance, aims to promote international infrastructure business efforts and disseminate smart urban solutions to the rest of the world.

Furthermore, on 27 May 2015, Yokohama concluded a memorandum regarding technical cooperation with Batam City, Indonesia. In August, marking the first of its initiatives, the Y-PORT Center (Yokohama City and IGES) and Yokohama’s businesses will be visiting Batam and holding a business-matching seminar with the Batam City administration and local businesses. Through this initiative, Yokohama will be employing public-private partnerships to aid Batam in its urban development while taking the surrounding environment into consideration.