Officials from the Port of Los Angeles and Japan External Trade Organization Los Angeles Office (JETRO Los Angeles) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to further promote cooperation in areas, including sustainability, environmental initiatives and supply chain optimization.

Gene Seroka, port executive director and Osamu Taki, JETRO Los Angeles chief executive director signed the agreement on November 14.

"This is how ambitious initiatives actually get done at the working level on the field. Implementing new ideas, proving them to be viable, and bringing in the support to make it all happen. This is at the heart of the MOU," commented Kenko Sone, Japan's consul general.

Seroka, for his part, noted the "long history" of shared cooperation between the Port of LA and Japan.

"This agreement with JETRO Los Angeles will allow our Port to further advance innovation and cooperation around supply chain optimization and sustainable technologies, as well as build stronger relationships with the government of Japan, its ports and cutting-edge Japanese companies," Seroka said.

 Left to right: Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka, JETRO Chief Executive Director Osamu Taki, and Japan Consul General Kenko Sone. (Source: Port of LA)

The MoU calls on the Port of Los Angeles and JETRO Los Angeles to work closely on strategies related to environmental sustainability, including collaboration and best practice sharing on zero-emission vehicle and equipment testing and deployment; use of alternative energy sources; and cooperation on other emerging terminals, ship and truck environmental initiatives.

JETRO Los Angeles has also agreed to facilitate introductions to Japanese companies for the Port to potentially enlist their expertise and help on environmental and zero-emission initiatives.

To improve supply chain efficiency, under the MOU the Port will also be sharing best practices and lessons learned related to its Port Optimizer™ digital community system created in 2017 and the first port community system and single portal digital platform in the U.S. focused specifically on enhancing supply chain performance through real-time, data-driven insights for cargo planning, forecasting and tracking.

The JETRO Los Angeles MOU marks the latest cooperative agreement signed by the Port of Los Angeles.

In the past several years, the Port has entered into cooperative global agreements with the Nagoya Port Authority, Japan; Indonesia Port Cooperation; Copenhagen Malmö Port; Port of Shanghai, China; and the Port of Singapore.