newsMorocco, Japan Eager to Develop Cooperation on Fisheries & Aquaculture

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13 Feb

Morocco, Japan Eager to Develop Cooperation on Fisheries & Aquaculture

Rabat – State Secretary for Fisheries, Mbarka Bouaida, held recently in Japan talks with several Japanese senior officials, which focused on the means to develop cooperation between the two countries on fisheries and aquaculture.

During her visit to Japan (Feb. 6-8), Bouaida, who was accompanied by Director of the National Aquaculture Development Agency, Majida Maarouf, and Morocco’s ambassador to Japan, Rachad Bouhlal, met with several senior Japanese officials to learn about Japan’s know-how in the areas of aquaculture and fisheries and to deepen collaboration in these fields, said a release by the National Aquaculture Development Agency.

On this occasion, Bouaida held talks with Japanese Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Ken Saito.

Saito hailed, on this occasion, Morocco’s leadership in Africa and its commitment to the Ministerial Conference on Fisheries Cooperation among African States bordering the Atlantic Ocean, as well as the positive role that the Kingdom plays at the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and the International Whaling Commission (IWC).

Bouaida highlighted the opportunities offered by Moroccan coasts for the development of aquaculture activities, reaffirming the Kingdom’s commitment to better governance of fisheries and natural resources.

During her talks with Japanese foreign minister, Taro Kono, Bouaida lauded the good cooperation with Japan through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which has launched several fisheries structuring projects in Morocco.

For his part, Kono noted with appreciation Morocco’s strengths in terms of political stability and strategic location as well as its relations of cooperation at the regional and continental levels.

During her meeting with JICA Vice President Junichi Yamada, the Moroccan State Secretary praised the commendable efforts made by this agency in developing cooperation between the two countries.

Bouaida also shed light on the progress made by the Halieutis strategy, particularly with regard to the development of aquaculture.

The Moroccan official also met with Japanese Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Yoshimasa Hayashi, Chairman of Japan’s Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology and President of Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology.

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