This three-and-a-half-year cooperation project between the Ministry of Equipment and Water and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) aims to strengthen the capacity of agencies in target African countries to develop, manage and operate roads, highways and ports.
At a ceremony attended by Africa Group’s Diplomatic Corps Dean and Cameroon’s Ambassador to Morocco Mouhamadou Youssifou, Equioment and Water Minister Nizar Baraka said that the project is fully in line with the provisions of the Kingdom’s Constitution.
In this respect, he explained that the Constitution of Morocco stipulates, in its preamble, the consolidation of relations of solidarity with the peoples and countries of Africa, particularly sub-Saharan, Sahel and Saharan countries, thereby strengthening and promoting South-South cooperation.
Morocco, with its deep-rooted cooperative relations with Japan, enjoys geographical and cultural proximity, as well as regionally and internationally recognized and appreciated expertise in a number of fields and sectors, he stressed.
He explained that the principle of this tripartite cooperation model, which allows the widest possible target groups from sister African countries to benefit, aims to promote solidarity between countries by allowing them to benefit not only from Japanese expertise and support, but also from Moroccan experience and expertise, noting that twenty Moroccan trainers have benefited from training in Japan, while twenty more are planned for next year.
For his part, Japan’s Ambassador to Morocco Hideaki Kuramitsu recalled that Japan has been organizing the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) since 1993, pointing out that it is one of the frameworks designed to promote a partnership based on the spirit of ownership by African countries of their own development, using the experience of other regions of the world.
In addition, since 1998, following TICAD II, Morocco and Japan have developed training programs for African countries with the aim of promoting South-South cooperation on the continent, he continued.
The diplomat affirmed that Japan, in constant consultation with its Maghreb and African partners, has opted for a cooperation approach that takes into account the current challenges facing Africa.
For his part, Takashi Ito, JICA’s Resident Representative in Morocco, pointed out that this project is the fruit of close collaboration and tireless preparation between the Ministry of Public Works and Water, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Resident Abroad and the Japanese Agency.
