Tokyo, Apr 4, IRNA – Iran and Japan signed a memorandum of understanding on Thursday on bilateral cooperation in environmental protection in a meeting between Iranian vice president and head of Department of Environment and Japanˈs environment minister.
In the ceremony to sign the MOU, the Japanese Minister of Environment Nobuteru Ishihara referred to his meeting with the Iranian Vice President and Head of DOE Maˈsoumeh Ebtekar on the sidelines of the Warsaw meeting, expressing delight for the signing of the environment cooperation MOU between the two countries.
The Iranian vice president, too, expressed hope that the signed MOU will not be limited to bilateral cooperation and could affect the regional and world environment positively.
ˈThe Iranian Department of Environment has thus far implemented various successful projects with the Japanese side in the framework of technical cooperation,ˈ said Dr. Maˈsoumeh Ebtekar.
She set example of the management project for Anzali marshlands and cooperation on deceasing the Tehran air pollution, and exchange of experience on projects for devising a clean mechanism for carbon decreasing as just a few examples of the two countriesˈ successful environment cooperation.
She also referred to executive cooperation aimed at decreasing the air pollution in large cities with emphasis on using electrical and hybrid cars, organizing and revival of the watershed basin of the Oroumiyeh Lake for sustainable agricultural purposes, managing and revival of dying marshlands, taking advantage of new energies, increasing the productivity of energies, transfer of new technologies for supervision and caretaking over air and water pollution decreasing, as the axes in mind of the Iranian EPO for cooperation with Japan.
Dr. Ebtekar had also earlier in the day met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the Japanese capital, Tokyo, on Thursday.
ˈJapan and Iran have close relations” and the “environment is one of the key areas for furthering cooperation,ˈ Abe told Ebtekar.
During the meeting, the Iranian vice president handed a letter from Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to the Japanese prime minister, stressing that the conditions are ripe for promoting bilateral relations between the two countries on environmental issues.
Japan and Iran have had good relations over the years. In September 2013, Rouhani and Abe sat for talks on the sidelines of the 68th annual session of the UN General Assembly in New York, calling for the expansion of all-out ties between Tehran and Tokyo.
Also, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida visited Iran in November last year and met with Rouhani and Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
